Turbyfill v. International Harvester Co

486 F.Supp. 232 (1980)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Turbyfill (P) was interested in purchasing a truck from Defendant's (D) used car lot. When the truck wouldn't start, Anderson, D's mechanic, helped start it. P was pouring gasoline into the engine while someone else tried to start it. The engine backfired and ignited the can P was holding. P suffered severe burns. At trial D offered, and the court admitted, an unsworn, handwritten account of the accident made by Anderson. Anderson died prior to trial, but Brown, his supervisor, testified that on the day of the accident, he had instructed Anderson to go into a room and write down everything that had happened. Brown did not witness the accident. He testified that the document being offered by D was the document he had instructed Anderson to write, and that Anderson had signed it in his presence. The document was read to the jury, but the court did not allow them to see it. P objected to admission of the statements on the ground that, because it did not fall into any of the specific objections to the hearsay rule contained in Ruled 803 and 804, it was inadmissible under the general rule barring hearsay. D argued that the document was admissible under Rule 804 (b)(5).