A jury in Zavala County, Texas recently hit Ford Motor Co. with a $28 million dollar verdict in a fatal rollover case. Two young women, Corina Garcia and Diana Alicia Alonzo, both 19, were thrown from the car and killed. Two other passengers were also thrown, but not seriously hurt. The attorneys representing the plaintiffs argued that the automaker was responsible because it used tempered side glass in the vehicle[a 2000 Explorer]even though Ford had been aware for years that a different type of glass reduced the risk of passenger ejection.
The case was briefly interrupted when Ford lawyers discovered that one of the jurors, Diana Palacios, was apparently romantically involved with one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. Ford then requested a mistrial. At the hearing on Ford's motion, it apparently came to light that in addition to dating the lawyer, the juror had apparently tried to steer two of the plaintiffs to her boyfriend for representation. The judge however, denied the motion[but did remove the juror]. The decision to deny the mistrial no doubt going to be raised on appeal.
Ford had presented evidence that the driver had been drinking before the accident and was speeding immediately before the accident. The jury found Ford 90% responsible for the deaths and the driver 10% responsible.
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