$11.4 Million Verdict Against Toyota for Fatal Unintended Acceleration Crash in St. Paul

On June 10, 2006, a 1996 Toyota Camry traveling through St. Paul, Minnesota suddenly accelerated and slammed into the back of a stopped Oldsmobile Ciera. Several people inside the Oldsmobile were killed. The driver of the Camry, Koua Fong Lee, maintained he could not stop the car despite pressing the brake. That claim formed the backbone of a products liability case that would take nearly a decade to reach a jury.

Surviving family members from both the Trice and Adams families filed suit in 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Case No. 0:10-cv-02804, before Judge Ann D. Montgomery. They alleged that a defect in the Camry's throttle system caused unintended acceleration, making the crash Toyota's responsibility rather than driver error.

Christopher Stock of Markovits, Stock and DeMarco represented the plaintiff families at trial. The central dispute was whether the Camry's acceleration was caused by a mechanical defect or by pedal misapplication. Plaintiffs presented engineering and crash-reconstruction evidence aimed at showing the throttle behaved abnormally. Toyota contested the defect theory throughout.

On February 3, 2015, the jury returned a verdict of $11.4 million and apportioned 60 percent of the fault to Toyota. The remaining 40 percent was assigned to other factors. Toyota moved for a new trial after the verdict. Judge Montgomery denied that motion in June 2015, letting the jury's findings stand.

The Law360 docket (Case 0:10-cv-02804) lists Markovits Stock as counsel of record for the plaintiffs. The Minneapolis Star Tribune covered the fee-dispute phase of the case and identified Christopher Stock of Markovits Stock DeMarco as plaintiffs' counsel. MPR News and the Star Tribune reported the verdict contemporaneously on February 3 and 4, 2015.