Favia v. Ford Motor Company

              FOURTH DIVISION
MARCH 31, 2008
No. 1-06-2127
VITO FAVIA, Administrator of the Estates of ) Appeal from the
Nicholas Favia, Deceased, and Rosa Favia, Deceased; ) Circuit Court of
CATERINA FAVIA, Special Administrator of the Estate ) Cook County.
of Patricia Favia, Deceased, and Michael Favia, ))
Plaintiffs-Appellants, ) No. 00 L 10755
)
v. )
)
FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a Corporation, ) Honorable
) James P. Flannery, Jr.,
Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE CAMPBELL delivered the opinion of the court:
Plaintiffs Vito Favia, as administrator of the estates of Nicholas and Rosa Favia, Caterina
Favia as the special administrator of the estate of Patricia Favia, and Michael Favia, individually,
appeal a jury verdict entered in favor of defendant Ford Motor Co. in a products liability action
arising out of a single-vehicle rollover crash. On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred
in: (1) admitting police testimony concerning the cause of the crash; (2) admitting expert opinions
based on statistical data not produced by defendant to plaintiffs; and (3) denying plaintiffs' motion
to deem facts admitted. Plaintiffs also argue that the cumulative effect of the above errors denied
them a fair trial.
The record on appeal discloses the following facts. At approximately 4:30 a.m. on
September 18, 1994, plaintiff and his decedents were passengers in a Ford Aerostar Extended