US judge on Thursday urged parties in the first federal trial over a faulty General Motors ignition switch to consider resolving the case before it reaches a verdict, after evidence surfaced that cast doubt on testimony from the plaintiff bringing the lawsuit. “We said all along that each case would be decided on its own merits, and we had already started to show by strong, clear and convincing evidence to the jury that the ignition switch didn’t have anything to do with Mr. Scheuer’s accident or injuries”, the GM spokesman said.
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Robert Scheuer, 49, will walk away from the case empty- handed, ending a lawsuit that was supposed to serve as a guide for hundreds of others against GM over the ignition switch, his lawyer said in a filing Friday in Manhattan federal court.
Such claims were rejected by GM, announcing that airbag should have functioned during the accident and argued that details of Mr. Scheuer’s injuries are forged.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman on Thursday granted GM’s request to show jurors evidence that Scheuer and his wife, Lisa, had fabricated the story blaming GM for their eviction about four months after the accident.
Scheuer claims the crash caused him financial problems and the loss of his “dream home”, a claim that has turned into a nightmare for Scheuer and his wife.
But the case never even got to a jury because a witness came forward to contradict allegations made by the plaintiff, an Oklahoma postal worker named Robert Scheuer. “Especially one such as this where the concerns regarding the underlying safety of certain GM vehicles are legitimate and real”, Hilliard said.
The couple has hired criminal defense lawyers.
In the bellwether system, each side chooses representative cases for alternating trials.
On the trial’s first day, an Oklahoma real estate agent who had accused Scheuer of fraud in a police complaint heard a radio report about the trial and reached out to GM, the automaker said in court papers. Hilliard hasn’t denied the allegations of forgery and perjury against the Scheuers in the case dismissed Friday. Defendants will “turn over every rock, look behind every tree to discredit the plaintiffs’ case, or the plaintiff, ” he said.
“According to the company, Robert Scheuer altered the original check by adding “$441” to the original amount, $430.72, making it appear to be $441,430.72.
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Since early 2014, GM has issued recalls affecting more than 30 million vehicles. He further claimed that the accident resulted in neck and back injuries.
