Fiat Chrysler seeks new trial in boy's fiery crash death after $150M damages award
Fiat Chrysler is asking a judge for a new trial in the case of a fiery crash that killed a 4-year-old Georgia boy.
A jury last month awarded $150 million in damages to the parents of Remington Walden, who was killed in March 2012 when the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee he was riding in caught fire after being rear-ended in rural Decatur County.
Chrysler, in a court filing Thursday, called the damages “astonishing” and “shocking,” the Wall Street Journal and ABC News report. The automaker also said the jury had acted “from passion and prejudice” largely because of improper appeals to the jury made by the lawyers representing the family.
According to the filing, the jury’s $120 million verdict for the boy’s wrongful death and $30 million verdict for pain and suffering are more than 11 times and four times, respectively, the largest such awards ever upheld on appeal in the state’s history.
Such “stunning and unprecedented damage awards are grossly excessive and cannot stand,” its filing said.
The boy’s parents said the automaker was at fault for installing a fuel tank behind the SUV’s rear axle, which left it vulnerable to fire in a rear-end collision. The jury found the company failed to warn users and showed “reckless or wanton disregard for human life” in the design and sale of the vehicle.
Chrysler recalled 1.56 million older Jeep Grand Cherokees and Libertys in 2013 as part of a deal with regulators because of concerns with the placement of the gas tank. The model at the center of the Georgia case is among those the company is now inspecting as part of a customer satisfaction campaign.
A lawyer for the boy’s family could not immediately be reached for comment, the Wall Street Journal reports.
