Jury tells Toyota to pay $11M to victims of crash

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS

A federal jury found that Toyota Motor Corp. must pay nearly $11 million to victims of a fatal 2006 crash after deciding Tuesday that a design flaw in the 1996 Camry was partly to blame for the Minnesota wreck.

Jurors said the company was 60 percent to blame for the accident, which left three people dead and two seriously injured. But they also found that Koua Fong Lee, who long has insisted he tried to stop his car before it slammed into another vehicle, was 40 percent to blame.

Lee, his family members, the family of a girl who died, and two people who were seriously injured sued Toyota Motor Corp. in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. The lawsuit alleged the crash was caused by an acceleration defect in Lee’s vehicle, but Toyota argued there was no design defect and that Lee was negligent.

“No amount of money... will bring my life back, my life is not the same anymore,” Lee said after the verdict, adding that he wanted the victims and their families to know: “I tried everything I could to stop my car.”

Toyota released a statement saying the company respects the jury’s decision but believes the evidence clearly showed that the vehicle wasn’t the cause of the accident. The company said it will study the record and consider its legal options going forward.

After the 2006 wreck, Lee was charged and convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to prison. But he won a new trial after reports surfaced about sudden acceleration in some Toyotas, and questions were raised about the adequacy of his defense. Prosecutors opted against a retrial, and he went free after spending 2 1/2 years behind bars. He later sued.

Under Minnesota law, Tuesday’s verdict means Toyota is responsible for paying all damages minus 40 percent of the amount awarded to Lee, bringing Toyota’s total liability to $10.94 million. Lee will receive $750,000 of that total.

The trial lasted three weeks, and jurors spent about four days deliberating.