Tweedy said the Nokia expert, whom he would not name, could make the burned phone work, and also could make a phone call with it. The battery in the phone was undamaged, Tweedy said.

Nokia officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

Tweedy said there was no evidence of a circuit board fire inside the phone, and that the plastic case of the phone was burned from the outside, as well as a part of the leather phone case. He provided a photo of the burned phone to Computerworld, and has kept the phone for evidence. Picaso has retained an attorney, but Tweedy would not release his name.

The phone would have had to have ignited with a spark or an arc of electricity inside the phone, Tweedy explained. He said the phone would not have gotten hot enough to cause a fire if there had not been a malfunction. The phone was in the pants pocket of the victim, and the man's pants and shirt were burned, resulting in second and third degree burns on his upper torso and arms.

The phone would have needed to reach about 300 degrees to set the pants on fire, he estimated, far above the heat generated by a phone that is properly working.