Report: Man convicted in fatal crash set free with Toyota sudden acceleration appeal

Zach Bowman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:58:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Government/Legal, Toyota

Koua Fong Lee, the man who was convicted in 2006 of killing three people when his Toyota Camry struck a vehicle at a stoplight, has been acquitted of any crime. Lee served a total of two-and-a-half years in prison after his defense attorney failed to adequately show that he had been applying the brake on his vehicle the whole time. In the wake of a number of unintended acceleration claims on similar Toyota vehicles and increasing outcry for his release (including a big ABC News feature), Lee's case was reopened. In four days of testimony, his new counsel had a series of drivers who had experience unintended acceleration in their Toyotas take the stand. Eventually, the ~~presiding judge heard enough and released Lee~~ prosecutor dropped the charges against Lee.

Lee served two-and-a-half years of an eight-year sentence for vehicular homicide after his first attorney actually suggested to the jury that Lee could have mistaken the accelerator for the brake pedal. Combined with the defendant's limited English and the fact that few people had heard of unintended acceleration at the time of the first trail, the judge sentenced Lee to the maximum penalty under the law. Now that he's been released, Lee says that he'll focus on getting to know the youngest of his four children. Thanks for the tip, Brian!

[Source: AOL Autos | Image: Ben Garvin/Associated Press]

Report: Man convicted in fatal crash set free with Toyota sudden acceleration appeal originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will Toyota's unintended acceleration woes help free imprisoned Camry driver? [w/videos]

Chris Shunk — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal, Recalls, Videos, Toyota

Click above to watch the videos after the jump

In June 2006, Koua Fong Lee was driving his pregnant wife and other family members home from church when he says his 1996 Toyota Camry accelerated on its own and the brakes stopped working. Lee struck another vehicle, killing three people in that car. A Minnesota jury convicted Lee of vehicular homicide and the native of Laos was sentenced to an eight-year prison sentence even though there was no evidence of alcohol or drugs involved in the incident.

Fast-forward to over three years later, and Toyota's recall woes for unintended acceleration are casting doubt on the jury's decision to convict Lee. But while the 1996 Camry isn't involved in the current recall, some 1996 models were recalled for unintended acceleration. Further, ABC News says that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received at least 17 other complaints of unintended acceleration in 1996 Camrys with comments like "couldn't stop" and "had to crash into a tree and another car to stop."

Brent Schafer, the lawyer for Lee, has asked for a new trial, and for his client to be set free until the time of a new hearing. The prosecution in the case told ABC News that it supports examining the 1996 Camry involved in the crash to determine if the car is at fault instead of Lee. For its part, Toyota has chosen not to comment to ABC News due to the fact that there could be a future lawsuit brought against the company. Click past the jump to watch the network's video coverage of this story (*Warning: videos may be slow to play - if they fail to load, please click here).

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[Source: ABC News]

Continue reading Will Toyota's unintended acceleration woes help free imprisoned Camry driver? [w/videos]

Will Toyota's unintended acceleration woes help free imprisoned Camry driver? [w/videos] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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