Billion-Dollar Verdict Against Mitsubishi Overturned by Appeals Court
A Pennsylvania appellate court has officially vacated a massive legal judgment against Mitsubishi Motors regarding a decades-old vehicle. The original verdict ordered the Japanese automaker to pay over one billion dollars in damages following a catastrophic rollover accident. This case garnered international attention due to the sheer size of the financial penalty and the age of the car involved. The Superior Court ruled that the jury received improper legal instructions during the initial trial.
The lawsuit stems from a life-altering incident that occurred in November 2017 involving Francis Amagasu. He was driving his 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT in Buckingham Township when he attempted to perform a passing maneuver around another vehicle. Amagasu lost control of the sports car during the attempt and the vehicle left the roadway. The car struck several trees before rolling over violently. Although Amagasu was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, his head struck the roof of the car and caused devastating spinal injuries that rendered him a quadriplegic.
Attorneys representing the Amagasu family, including Wes Ball, argued that the vehicle contained critical safety defects that directly caused these injuries. The legal team focused their case on the seatbelt system which utilized a specific rip-stitch design intended to manage crash forces. They claimed this mechanism was defective because it allowed the belt to tear and introduce four inches of slack during the impact. The plaintiffs contended that this excess movement allowed the driver’s body to leave the seat and strike the roof structure. They further argued that the roof itself was too weak to maintain its integrity during the rollover.
A Philadelphia jury initially sided with the plaintiff in late 2023 after hearing the evidence. The jurors awarded approximately 176 million dollars in compensatory damages to cover past and future medical care as well as lost earnings. To punish the company for the alleged safety defects, the jury added a staggering 800 million dollars in punitive damages. This resulted in one of the largest automotive product liability verdicts in Pennsylvania history. The total award exceeded one billion dollars and immediately prompted a legal challenge from the manufacturer.
Mitsubishi appealed the decision and argued that the trial process was fundamentally flawed. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania agreed with the automaker in a recent ruling and identified significant errors in how the law was explained to the jury. The three-judge panel found that the trial judge, Sierra Thomas-Street, failed to instruct the jury correctly on the crashworthiness doctrine. This complex legal standard requires plaintiffs to prove that a safer alternative design would have specifically prevented the injuries sustained.
The appellate court ruled that the omission of these specific instructions likely confused the jury and prejudiced the outcome. Consequently, the massive financial award has been completely wiped out. The case has been remanded for a new trial where a new jury will hear the arguments from the beginning. This decision effectively resets the legal battle between the Amagasu family and Mitsubishi Motors.
Please share your thoughts on this complex legal battle and the court’s decision in the comments.
