Art returned home after a long bike ride and plugged his ele…
Art returned home after a long bike ride and plugged his electric bike’s charging device into the outlet in the garage. Unfortunately, the bike’s battery overheated and set fire to his house. Art brought a civil lawsuit against the bicycle manufacturer. (1) At trial Art’s attorney examined a former employee of the bicycle manufacturer who testified that the company had received several complaints from customers who had experienced similar thermal issues with their bicycles. On cross examination, the defense counsel for the company questioned the former employee by asking him “Isn’t it a fact that you were fired by the bicycle company last month?” (2) Art testified that he carefully followed the instructions, plugged the battery charging device into the electrical socket, and went to sleep. On cross examination the defense counsel for the company queried, “Isn’t it a fact that you told Bill the day after the fire that you wish you had followed the bike manual which instructed bicycle owners not to plug the recharging device into wall electrical plate when the other socket was in use?” (3) Art’s counsel then called Carl to the witness stand and asked him, “What did Art tell you the week after the fire. Carl answered that Art told him that he had carefully followed the recharging instructions. (4) Art’s counsel then called Doug, an insurance company employee, as a witness. The employee testified to what he observed concerning the burnt wreckage of Art’s garage in the immediate aftermath of the fire. Doug then authenticated a photograph of the wall socket plate after the fire which showed it would have been impossible to insert more than one plug into the socket plate. On cross examination, defense counsel for the bicycle company asked Doug if he himself had taken the photograph. Doug responded “no, but it looks exactly as I saw it after the fire. “ Discuss all legal issues regarding (1) the basis of the defense counsel’s cross examination of the former insurance company employee; (2) The cross examination of Art; (3) the examination of Carl by Art’s counsel; & (4) the cross examination of Doug by defense counsel; Assume that the Federal Rules of Evidence apply in this jurisdiction.