Morrison Mahoney Associate Olivia Collins recently prevailed in the Small Claims Division of the Falmouth District Court on behalf of our client, a cellphone manufacture. Plaintiff claimed her cell phone battery spontaneously ignited causing severe burns to her foot and the loss of her home. Although the fire department records stated that the equipment involved in the ignition was a cellphone manufactured by our client, prior to trial, Olivia filed a Motion to Exclude Testimony Regarding Defect, and argued that since Plaintiff did not have an expert to opine as to whether a defect with the phone caused her fire, any testimony suggesting a defect must be excluded. The Court allowed the Motion to Exclude just before trial.
Given the pre-trial motion, at trial, Olivia argued that Plaintiff was unable to meet her burden of proof that the phone caused the fire. She pointed to the fire department records submitted into evidence, which stated that plaintiff’s home was in hoarding condition with multiple space heaters and heat lamps plugged in. Olivia thus argued that without an expert, there were a myriad of other factors that could have caused the fire.
In finding for the defendant, the magistrate ruled that Plaintiff was not able to meet her burden of proof demonstrating that the cell phone was the cause of the fire.
