Questions about the credibility of an expert witness in lawsuits involving rollover accidents are putting the Ford Motor Company on the defensive, as lawyers for accident victims press claims that Ford covered up evidence that its Bronco II sport utility vehicle was dangerous, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Wednesday.
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The newspaper said that the South Carolina Supreme Court last week said that the estate of a man whose leg was crushed in a 1990 Bronco II rollover, Ray Chewning Jr., could seek to reopen a case he lost a decade ago.
In its ruling saying there was a basis to reconsider the case, the court cited claims by Chewning’s lawyers that Ford paid the expert witness, David Bickerstaff, a former Ford engineer, to testify falsely on its behalf, the NYT said.
The newspaper said that decision followed a 2001 finding by a federal judge in a West Virginia case that there was evidence of a “conspiracy” between Ford and Bickerstaff to mislead the court. Ford settled that case, which involved a fatal accident, within two days of the judge’s finding.
According to the New York Times, plaintiffs’ lawyers hoping to reopen scores of accident cases around the country claim that Bickerstaff, who helped develop the Bronco II in the early 1980s, was paid millions of dollars after leaving Ford to alter his testimony about the vehicle’s performance on early safety tests.
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By GlobalDataThe paper noted that, before he became a paid witness for Ford, Bickerstaff said in a 1990 deposition that he had concerns about the Bronco II’s stability. But after receiving the payments, he dismissed plaintiffs’ lawyers’ assertions in other cases that the vehicle — the predecessor to the Ford Explorer — had not performed well on the safety tests.
The New York Times said that Ford officials have adamantly denied the claims of misconduct, and the company has succeeded in preventing some cases from being reopened. No court has ever concluded that Ford or Bickerstaff engaged in fraud.
“There is no basis for allegations that David Bickerstaff changed his testimony as an expert witness for Ford,” Ford spokesman Jon Harmon told the NYT. Ford, he added, “conducts its participation in legal proceedings with absolute integrity.”
The paper said Bickerstaff could not be located for comment. Both Ford and his former wife told the NYT they did not know his whereabouts.
The New York Times said plaintiffs’ lawyers are seeking to reopen another seven cases around the country on the ground that Bickerstaff’s testimony was false. In all, he testified or was deposed in 45 cases involving Ford and was identified as a possible witness in another 100; results of some of those may be challenged as well, the New York Times said.
