Deposition Testimony of Absent Product ID Witness Is Not Admissible, Court Says

PHILADELPHIA - A defendant in a Pennsylvania asbestos suit is entitled to a new trial on damages and liability because a trial court erred when it allowed the jury to hear deposition testimony of a key witness who could not be located at trial, a state Superior Court has ruled. Hall v. Owens Corning Fiberglas Corp., et al., No. 1892 EDA 2000 (Pa. Super.).

In its ruling June 27, the court reversed a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judgment against John Crane, the company that had been assessed $200,000 in damages for causing the asbestos-related injuries suffered by Lester D. Smallwood.