This Jan. 8, 2016 photo provided by the U.S. District Court, Southern District, taken by a court employee/photographer, shows a section of a General Motors auto in a courtroom in NY where jury selection began Monday, Jan 11, 2016, for a trial meant to narrow legal issues for hundreds of civil lawsuits brought against General Motors over faulty ignition switches.
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A jury has been selected to decide whether General Motors should be held liable for a faulty ignition switch that allegedly caused a car’s power to shut down and prevent air bags from deploying in an accident.
General Motors is prepped to go to trial Monday in a lawsuit over defective ignition switches linked to almost 400 injuries and deaths, continuing a legal battle that has already seen the automaker pay out more than $2 billion in damages and settlements.
The trial is one of six scheduled this year that are created to help over 1,000 litigants settle claims with GM down the road.
GM’s trial in lower Manhattan stems from a May 2014 crash in Oklahoma.
The Manhattan federal court trial is expected to last a month.
In his opening, GM attorney Mike Brock insisted General Motors was not to blame for Scheuer’s accident and suggested the Tulsa, Oklahoma, resident was not honest.
In the lawsuit, plaintiff Robert Scheuers claims he was injured when his 2003 Saturn Ion ran off the highway, became airborne and then struck the ground and trees in May 2014.
GM has argued there is no proof that the switch caused or exacerbated Scheuer’s injuries.
In 2014, GM issued 84 recalls covering more than 30 million vehicles, including 27 million in the U.S.
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While not binding on other cases, the verdict will provide insight into the strengths of both sides’ evidence as GM looks to wrap up the remaining switch litigation. Scheuer’s air bag did not deploy and he said his injuries left him with ongoing neck and back pain.
