Courtroom Views | The CVN Blog

$18M+ Verdict in Firestone Tire Defect Trial

Moreno v. Ford, one of many pending cases involving defective Firestone tires on Ford Explorers, resulted in an $18M+ jury verdict for the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs alleged that a tire retailer, American Tire Depot, had negligently installed a 12 year-old defective spare tire on the plaintiff's vehicle.  American Tire Depot conceded that they do not check every tire for recalls, but said that they would not have rotated the spare into service, so someone else must have done it. 

The jury awarded just over $5M, $3.5M, and $0.5M, to three family members injured in the crash, and $9M in wrongful death damages to the parents of an 11 year-old child killed in the crash.

The jury assigned 85% fault to American Tire Depot, 15% fault to Bridgestone/Firestone, and 0% to Ford and to the driver of the vehicle that overturned.

CVN webcast this Firestone Tire trial live, and it is available for replay on-demand. 

Closing Arguments in Firestone Tire Defect Trial

Both sides completed their closing arguments today in the Firestone tire defect trial of Moreno v. Ford, a case in which a tire seller, American Tire Depot, was alleged to have mounted on the plaintiff's Ford Explorer a 12 year-old spare tire that had been recalled, and subsequently failed, resulting in a fatal injury.

Plaintiff attorney Roger Braugh argued, "This major tire retailer, with 30 stores in Southern California, selling 300,000 tires per year, put old tires, recalled tires on this car.  And they don't train their employees. If someone drove in today with a 12 year-old recalled tire, would they say something?  Nothing...This tire was a bomb waiting to go off, and they lit the fuse...jerk their head out of the sand."

Defense attorney William DelHagan argued that the failed tire was not mounted by the defendant. The wear on the failed tire and the wear on the tire that the defendant sold and mounted were different (0.5 32nds versus 2.0 32nds). "The Firestone tire was installed somewhere else, and some other time, or it would surely have the same amount of wear."  Further, DelHagen argued, "Whoever installed this tire, there was no standard or rule broken in mounting an otherwise serviceable tire." DelHagen characterized the plaintiff's story as "exceedingly unlikely, virtually impossible to be true."

CVN is webcasting this Firestone tire defect trial live and on-demand. 

Firestone Tire Defect Trial Begins

Although many Firestone-Ford Explorer cases are pending before Judge Anthony Mohr in Los Angeles, Moreno v. Ford has actually gone to trial. 

The accident in Moreno v. Ford occurred on May 24, 2006, when a 12 year-old Firestone Radial ATX Tire suffered a tread separation or a belt separation that precipitated a fatal accident.  The Ford Explorer slid off the road and rolled over multiple times.  Although all of the vehicle occupants were wearing safety belts, 11 year-old William Moreno suffered massive head trauma and died.

According to the plaintiff, the defective tire was a spare tire that had been in the vehicle since 1994, and was negligently rotated into service in January, 2006, by American Tire Depot, even though the tire had been recalled.

According to the defense, road conditions were optimal for handling a tire separation emergency, and the driver could have safely stopped the vehicle without leaving the road, but instead turned the wheel right, which was an unsafe turning maneuver.

In addition, the defense asserted that the William Moreno suffered a fatal head injury due to a failure of the Ford seatbelt system. 

This Firestone Tire and Ford Explorer Trial against American Tire Depot is being webcast live by CVN.