If the judge can’t dismiss the case altogether, GM wants jurors to receive instructions to disregard the allegedly false claims made about the key.
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“It’s clear based on sworn eyewitness statements, expert testimony and other evidence that the ignition switch had nothing to do with this accident and everything to do with Zach Stevens’ extremely reckless driving”, GM said in a statement.
Stevens previously said that he had just a few items on his key chain at the time of the crash, while the key chain shown to jurors had additional items attached to it, including a gym membership card and souvenir Eiffel Tower.
GM recalled 2.6 million vehicles in 2014 to replace the ignition switches, warning that added weight on keychains could cause the switches to shift from “on” to “accessory” position, cutting power to brakes, steering and air bags.
A judge in Texas recently dismissed another lawsuit against GM from a woman who blamed a auto crash on an ignition switch issue, citing a lack of expert testimony to support her allegations.
According to a GM court filing, plaintiffs Zachary Stevens and his parents and their lawyers showed jurors in Harris County court a key attached to a chain containing several other items, claiming it was the one used to drive the 2007 Saturn Sky involved in the crash. Part of my reason for siding against GM is that it has already tried to pull at least one dirty trick to get out of its liability, when it tried to pull the “Old GM” defense, saying that it’s 2009 bankruptcy shed it of any liability for its previous wrongdoings. The key didn’t work in the salvaged Sky’s ignition on Sunday, during a field trip demonstration conducted for the judge by lawyers for both sides. His 2015 lawsuit is the first to go to trial among roughly 20 pending in Texas state courts. In January, a federal case in NY fell apart midway through a trial when an Oklahoma postman suing GM dropped his claims after he was accused of lying.
Robert Scheuer testified in that case that injuries he sustained in a May 2014 wreck of his Saturn Ion led to his family’s eviction from their “dream house”. GM accused him of perjury in connection with the financing on the house, and the Scheuers dropped their lawsuit, without getting a penny from GM.
GM has spent more than $2 billion, according to various filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, to pay government imposed fines, lawyer fees and individual settlements since the scandal broke into public view more than two years ago and has earned the company sharp rebukes from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Congressional committees. As such, Stevens proceeded to file a civil lawsuit against GM, claiming it was at fault for the accident. GM recalled 2.6 million USA vehicles over the potentially faulty ignition switches that company engineers knew for years could fail.
After that recall, Houston-area prosecutors dropped criminal manslaughter charges against Zach Stevens over the death of the second driver in the crash. Mr. Stevens demanded compensation for the cost of defending himself and for brain injuries.
The case is Stevens v.
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