Lunghi

This appeal is from a judgment based on a jury verdict in favor of defendant Clark Equipment Company, Inc. (Clark), manufacturer of a Bobcat front-end model 440 loader, in a wrongful death action brought by the survivors of a man (Lunghi) who was crushed to death in August 1976 by the descending boom and bucket of a Bobcat front-end model 440 loader when he tried to rescue a fellow employee (Perez) whose hand had become trapped in the loader’s framework while he was trying to repair a battery. The loader was manufactured by the Melrose Company, which had been purchased by Clark in 1969. The jury returned a special verdict with a 10-to-2 vote that there was no defect in the design of the loader.

The issues on appeal are whether the trial court erred in: (1) refusing to allow plaintiffs to introduce testimony of an expert who had been hired by defendant and deposed during discovery but not called by defendant to testify during trial; (2) refusing to give plaintiffs’ requested jury instructions on the manufacturer’s liability for negligence; (3) refusing plaintiffs’ request to instruct the jury on the consumer expectations aspect of strict liability; and (4) altering the…