Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Little

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

This is a products liability case. In 1978, Artie Little, age 82, was walking by the roadside in Strong, Arkansas, when she was hit with a rim that came off the wheel of a passing truck. She filed suit for damages against the owner of the truck and trailer, Harvey Shelton, the owner of a service station who fixed a flat on the wheel of the trailer that day, Jackson Smith, and Firestone, the manufacturer of the rim. At trial, the jury exonerated both the owner of the truck and the service station owner, and awarded Artie Little $150,000 compensatory damages, and…