Jones v. Pak-Mor Mfg. Co

In Jones v. Pak-Mor Mfg. Co., 145 Ariz. 121, 700 P.2d 819 (1985), a product liability case, the supreme court overturned its earlier rule excluding all evidence of safety history. Id. at 128-29, 700 P.2d at 826-27. The court explained that "there can be no doubt that evidence of safety-history is relevant." Id. at 125, 700 P.2d at 823. The court also noted, however, that Rule 403 of the Arizona Rules of Evidence nevertheless could exclude the evidence if its unfairly prejudicial effect substantially outweighed its probative value. Id. at 125-26, 700 P.2d at 823-24. Therefore, the proponent "must establish that if there had been prior accidents, the witness probably would have known about them." Id. at 127, 700 P.2d at 825.