880 1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF SHELBY COUNTY TENNESSEE FOR THE THIRTIETH JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT MEMPHIS 2 ________________________________________________ 3 GILBERT MOHR, as administrator of the estates of VICKIE MOHR, 4 deceased, and MAURINE HEATHSCOTT, deceased, GILBERT MOHR, as father 5 and next best friend of VICTORIA MOHR, AND CAROLYN A. JONES, 6 individually, 7 Plaintiffs, 8 Vs. Case No. CT-03-002433-03 Division 9 9 DAIMLER CHRYSLER CORPORATION, 10 a corporation; DAIMLER CHRYSLER FINANCIAL SERVICES, (DEBIS) NORTH AMERICA L.L.C., 11 a limited liability company; GARY MATTHEWS OF JACKSON L.L.C., a limited liability 12 company, f/k/a WILSON AUTO MALL, 13 Defendants. ________________________________________________ 14 15 VOLUME XI 16 17 BE IT REMEMBERED that the above-captioned 18 cause came on for Trial on this, the 31st day of 19 January 2005, before the Honorable ROBERT 20 CHILDERS, Judge presiding, when and where the 21 following proceedings were had, to wit: 22 23 ALPHA REPORTING CORPORATION 100 North Main Building, The Lobby 24 Memphis, Tennessee 38103 (901) 523-8974 881 1 - APPEARANCES - 2 For the Plaintiffs: MR. LARRY W. MORRIS 3 MR. JEREMY KNOWLES Attorneys at Law 4 3500 Colonnade Parkway Birmingham, Alabama 35243 5 (205) 324-4008 6 MR. RICHARD E. CHARLTON, III 7 Attorney at Law The Winchester Law Firm 8 6060 Poplar Avenue Suite 295 9 Memphis, Tennessee 38119 (901) 685-9222 10 11 12 For the Defendants: MS. JOY BURNS DAY 13 MR. LARRY SUTTER Attorneys at Law 14 Sutter, O'Connell, Mannion & Farchione 15 136 4th Avenue South Franklin, Tennessee 37064 16 (615) 791-1031 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 882 1 - INDEX - 2 WITNESS: PAGE NUMBER 3 JAMES MUNDO 4 DIRECT EXAMINATION (CONT'D) BY MR. KNOWLES ------------------ 883 5 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION 6 BY MR. KNOWLES ------------------ 935 7 VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION BY MR. SUTTER ------------------- 937 8 DIRECT EXAMINATION (CONT'D) 9 BY MR. KNOWLES ------------------ 939 10 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. SUTTER ------------------- 940 11 REDIRECT EXAMINATION 12 BY MR. KNOWLES ------------------ 1002 13 JOHN SPARHAWK 14 DIRECT EXAMINATION 15 BY MR. MORRIS ------------------ 1013 16 17 1012 19 MR. MORRIS: Mr. John Sparhawk. 20 JOHN SPARHAWK, 21 having been first duly sworn, was examined and 22 testified as follows: 23 MR. MORRIS: May I proceed, Your 24 Honor? 1013 1 THE COURT: Yes 2 DIRECT EXAMINATION 3 BY MR. MORRIS: 4 Q. Tell us your name. 5 A. John Sparhawk. 6 Q. Sparhawk? 7 A. Sparhawk. 8 Q. S-P-A-R-H-A-W-K? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. Where do you live, John? 11 A. I live in Hartland, Michigan. 12 Q. And what is your date of birth? 13 A. 11/4/63. 14 Q. So you would be a little over 40 15 years of age? 16 A. Correct. 17 Q. All right. Do you have a wife and 18 children? 19 A. Yes, I do. 20 Q. How old are your children? 21 A. I have a boy that is the two years 22 old and a girl that is four years old . 23 Q. All right. Have you -- would you 24 tell the jury the benefit of your educational 1014 1 background? 2 A. I have a bachelor of science in 3 engineering from Lord's Tech; it is a local 4 private school. It is known for automotive 5 engineering. 6 Q. Okay? 7 A. And I also have an MBA. 8 Q. And MBA is a master's in business. 9 A. That's correct. 10 Q. And did you get that from Lawrence 11 Tech? 12 A. Yes, I did. 13 Q. And is Lawrence Tech a place in 14 Michigan where -- or would it be fair to say 15 that many, many engineers go that are engaged 16 in working for the automotive industry? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Is that the place that you kind of -- 19 like I've always heard of Harvard Law School; 20 is that the big place that you go for being 21 engineers? 22 A. It is known for its engineering 23 excellence. 1047 19 A. Yes, sir. 20 Q. Did you have -- during this period of 21 time, had you ever heard of a Nancy Byers? 22 A. No, sir. 23 Q. Had you ever heard of the name of 24 Paul Sheridan? 1048 1 A. I've heard of the name Paul Sheridan, 2 yes. 3 Q. Did he work there with you? 4 A. He had already left the company. 5 Q. All right. Did anything concerning a 6 threat to you and Paul Sheridan arise with your 7 employment concerning seat belts? 8 A. I was told that after Paul Sheridan 9 came out on a Dateline or a Prime Time, he was 10 on one of those shows, Ginny came down and said 11 that they were sending a team of lawyers sue 12 him into the ground and let this be a lesson to 13 you. 14 Q. They sued for $82 million, didn't 15 they? 16 A. I don't know what the amount was. 17 Q. All of this was a result of you 18 knowing that this seat belt was defective? 19 A. Yes, sir. 20 Q. And, Mr. Sparhawk, you were moved to 21 another division, weren't you? 22 A. Yes, I was. 23 Q. And then they laid you off, didn't 24 they? 1049 1 A. Yes, sir.