Mock Trial
Case: Johnson vs. Coldrock Tire and Rubber Company
In March 2016, John “Johnny” Johnson, a mechanic employed by Infiniti of Parkland,
attempted to mount a 16-inch tire on a 17-inch rim of an Infiniti G35 wheel. While
installing the tire, he leaned and reached over the assembly and the tire exploded,
causing him serious, permanent injuries. Mr. Johnson lost three fingers of his right hand
in the accident, as well as the vision in his right eye. In addition to his job at the
dealership, Mr. Johnson was an aspiring reggae musician who the day of the accident
had received a multi-million dollar record contract offer from Tinseltown Records. Mr.
Johnson filed suit in Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit Court against his employer, American
Hawk Company– the manufacturer of the wheel, Nissan Motor Company – the
manufacturer of the automobile and designer of the wheel and Coldrock Tire and
Rubber Company – the manufacturer of the tire. Mr. Johnson had 10 years of
experience as a mechanic and had received three days of on-site training from
representatives of Coldrock. The dealership, wheel manufacturer and automobile
manufacturer all settled, leaving Coldrock as the remaining defendant.
This is a civil tort case and not a criminal one. Causes of actions will consist of claims
for
1. Negligence, and
2. (Strict) product liability
An issue in the case is the labeling on the tire. The tire had a label, advising users never
to mount a 16-inch tire on a 17-inch rim, warning of the danger of severe injury or death,
and included a drawing of a mechanic leaning over the tire to install it with a circle and
red line drawn through it. Whether the label was sufficiently conspicuous or adequately
depicted the resulting danger or risk of injury, remains an open issue. In depositions,
Johnson admitted that he ignored these warnings at the urging of his employer, especially
because it was common practice to install smaller tires on larger rims of the Infiniti G35.
During discovery, Johnson’s attorneys explored why Coldrock did not use a safer “bead”
design. The bead is a rubber encased steel wire, which circles the tire and holds it on to
the rim. Each side has offered up experts, with Johnson’s pointing out that other
manufacturers use different and safer bead designs and Coldrock’s arguing that the
Coldrock design was the safest in the industry, and a different design would not have
changed the outcome.
The defendant in the case is Roger “Cole” Coldrock, CEO of the company, who is being
represented by the Wall Street firm of Ben, Jarvis, Green & Ellis, LLP. The plaintiff is
being represented by the law firm of Dewey, Cheatum & Howe, LLP, a specialist in
product liability suits. The assigned judge in the case is the Hon. Solomon Cardozo
Holmes, a recent appointee by the Republican governor. Before his appointment, Judge
Holmes was in private practice with a large Fort Lauderdale firm; his major client was
General Motors.
General Information
-Read the entire case
Write a 1 page summary with the following (From the Mock Trial):
1- Understand the law and the
issues that will be argued.
2- Understand how to run a trial
