One of the plaintiffs' lawyers in the wrongful death civil trial against Ford Motor Co. over a fatal Fair Oaks church van rollover in 2004 today accused the car manufacturer of knowing it had a faulty tire on its vehicles but refusing to do anything about it.
He's asking the jury for $185 million in punitive damages from Ford.
"The evidence is uncontroverted that Ford made a conscious decision to not communicate that information to their dealerships, and they made a conscious decision not to tell their customers," attorney Roger A. Dreyer told the Sacramento Superior Court jury.
Dreyer then told the panel, "And Tony Mauro," whose family Dreyer represents, "is dead as a result."
Mauro, 41, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, died in the April 9, 2004, crash in which the van's driver, William Brownell, 48, also was killed.
The wife and two children of Mauro are plaintiffs in the suit against Ford, as are two other passengers who were in the 15-passenger 1993 E-350 Ford Econoline van that had been subject to federal safety advisories.
A tread separation on the van's rear right tire, manufactured by Goodyear, caused the accident. Dreyer argued that Ford was negligent because it knew about a recall on the tire but never told its dealers or customers.
Ford's lawyers said the van was not eligible for a replacement under Goodyear voluntary replacement program. The auto company said the vehicle should have been controllable by the van's driver after the separation. Ford's attorneys also claimed Mauro was partially liable for his death because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. Brownell also wasn't wearing one, and one of the other plaintiffs in the case, Maureen Shirley, did not properly fasten her seat belt, Ford's lawyers said in their court papers.
Dreyer will continue his closing arguments this afternoon in front of Judge David W. Abbott. Attorneys for the other two plaintiffs in the case will follow before Ford's lawyers begin their arguments.
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