Bulletproof Vest Maker Demurs on DOJ Settlement

In a 14-year-old lawsuit over defective bulletproof vests, a federal judge urged one of the last defendants standing Wednesday to lay down his armor and settle with the government.To get more news about bulletproof zone.com, you can visit bulletproofboxs.com official website.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman made the appeal this afternoon, about three hours into a pretrial conference where prosecutors haggled over witnesses and exhibits with Richard Davis, the founder of Second Chance Body Armor Inc.

"I don't understand why you don't settle this case," Friedman told the former Detroit pizzeria owner, who is representing himself pro se.

Back in 1969, Davis conceived of his idea for a soft-armor bulletproof vest after a pizza delivery gone awry. He exchanged fire with armed robbers and was hit twice, which inspired him to invent a cloth vest that would protect police officers.

Davis built the company from the ground up, demonstrating the effectiveness of his invention by filming videos in which he shot himself while wearing one of his vests.

If he settles, Judge Friedman urged Wednesday, Davis has a chance to emerge from the lengthy litigation with his reputation intact, facing no obligation to admit liability for any wrongdoing."The likelihood that you're going to win at trial is not great," Friedman said.

Friedman also indicated that he understood Davis wanted to go to trial out of principle."What you tried to do is worthy of great respect," Friedman said.

Much of the evidence Davis wants to present at trial pertains to the history of the company, including a catalog that documents the lives his vests saved over the past 30 years.

Friedman said much of it constitutes inadmissible hearsay, however, and that Davis should be concerned about what an adverse judgment against him might look like.

"There will be 20 to 30 pages of fact-finding that you're not going to like if you lose," Friedman said.

Second Chance Body Armor was one of several that the government sued in 2004 after doling out millions for defective bulletproof vests made with a fiber called Zylon that had been produced by Toyobo Co. Ltd.

To date the government has recovered $132 million in settlements. In a statement this past March announcing a $66 million settlement with the Japanese-based Toyobo, the government identified Davis and Honeywell as the lone holdouts.