Koua Fong Lee Freed From Prison After ABC News Reports to Get Toyota Payout

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-freed-prison-abc-news-reports-toyota-payout/story?id=28720252

Man Freed From Prison After ABC News Reports to Get Toyota Payout

Feb 4, 2015, 12:50 PM ET

By LEE FERRAN

A Minnesota man imprisoned for vehicular homicide but released after a series of ABC News reports on an apparent defect in some Toyota models will now receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from the car manufacturer, part of a multi-million dollar verdict against the company.

Late Tuesday car manufacturer Toyota was ordered to pay $11 million to the victims of a 2006 car crash that claimed the lives of three people and to Koua Fong Lee, the driver of one vehicle who was imprisoned for more than two years.

 

Lee was featured in an ABC News investigation into “sudden acceleration,” a phenomenon in which Toyota drivers said their vehicle could randomly take off on its own and could not be stopped. Ever since the deadly 2006 accident, Lee had maintained that his 1996 Toyota Camry was defective and that it wasn't his fault the car rammed into an Oldsmobile, killing three people, including two children.

 

Lee was freed from prison in 2010 and at the time his attorney, Bob Hillard, said it was “the result of the ABC report that brought the people to help us,” including dozens of witnesses who came forward with similar stories about unintended acceleration. A judge ruled then that there was enough new evidence for Lee to get a new trial, but prosecutors said they would not pursue him.

 

ABC NEWS FULL COVERAGE: Runaway Toyotas

Late Tuesday, in a new suit against Toyota, a jury in Minneapolis found that the car maker was mostly – 60 percent – to blame for the 2006 accident because Lee’s Camry was defective, though the jury said Lee was still 40 percent at fault, according to The Associated Press.

“No amount of money… will bring my life back. My life is not the same anymore,” Lee said after the verdict, the AP reported. “I tried everything I could to stop my car.”

Of the $10.94 million Toyota has reportedly been ordered to pay, Lee is expected to receive $750,000.

In a statement provided to ABC News, Toyota said the company respects the jury’s decision, but believes "the evidence clearly demonstrated that Mr. Lee's 1996 Camry was not the cause of this unfortunate accident." The company said it would consider its legal options.

READ MORE: Toyota Must Pay $11M to Victims of Fatal Crash

ABC News' Divya Kumar and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/man-freed-prison-abc-news-reports-toyota-payout/story?id=28720252

 

Cuddle Master

$750,000? for 2 years of illegal imprisonment? ridiculous.

 

 

E Brown  Cuddle Master

It goes beyond the 2 years imprisonment, It goes on for the rest of his life. 
As to illegality, I have to wonder what the jurors were thinking. A man, with no criminal or drug/alcohol history, leaves church, unimpaired by drugs or anything else, and decides to go off a highway ramp at speeds approaching 100 mph, rams at least 2 cars and kills 3 people because...WHY? 
The only reasonable explanation is his explanation, that the car malfunctioned. The conviction means that they decided that he was just an evil man. Why would they think that?

 

Parris Boyd

Manufacturing defect + Lee's account + others who had unintended acceleration in '96 Camrys = 100% Toyota's fault. But not to worry. Taxpayers will pay the bill for Koua's time in prison at the hands of admitted-crook Toyota. Real hoot that the Coverup King was allowed to submit sworn depositions re the manufacturing defect, which made it kinda hard to conduct a cross examination. I've been blogging about the "Toyota Way" for quite some time - search "Beware of Toyota. Their next victim may be YOU..."