The LA County District's Attorney has decided to drop the vehicular manslaughter charge against Unmi Suk Chung, the 62-year-old Torrance woman accused of stepping on the gas pedal instead of the brakes and causing the deadly 2008 Los Angeles motor vehicle crash on the 10 freeway that claimed the life of Esook Synn, the 69-year-old passenger who was riding in her Lexus RX330's backseat. Synn's family has filed a Los Angeles wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota and they are suing the automaker for California auto products liability.
At the time of the deadly Los Angeles car crash, Chung had yelled out that the brakes weren't working. According to the Los Angeles Times, her lawyer had blamed the auto defect on a computer-system malfunction that caused the Lexus to accelerate out of control. Prosecutors, however, contended that Chung was engaging in reckless driving and that this is what caused the deadly collision.
However, with sudden acceleration involving a Toyota vehicle being blamed as cause of dozens of fatalities--resulting in wrongful death and auto products liability complaints against the automaker--obtaining a guilty verdict from a jury would have been tough. Synn's family members and the passenger in her vehicle who did survive the traffic crash had been pressing prosecutors to drop the criminal charge.
Toyota Sudden Acceleration
Synn's situation is an example of how an auto defect can impact the lives of not just those that have been injured or killed or lost someone that they love in a car crash. If Synn had been convicted of manslaughter, she could have ended up spending up to six years in prison. One man, Koua Fong Lee, was into his third year of a eight-year prison sentence for criminal vehicular manslaughter when the criminal case against him was dismissed.
Lee was serving time for the car crash deaths of three people. In 2006, his 1996 Camry accelerated out of control and struck two vehicles. A man and his 10-year-old son and a 6-year-old girl died from their injuries. The victims' families have for some time now believed that Toyota was at fault. They are suing the automaker for Los Angeles auto products liability related to the wrongful deaths.
Criminal Charges Dismissed Against Runaway Lexus Driver In LA, ABC News, October 27, 2010
Minnesota judge frees man convicted in acceleration crash of Toyota, CNN, August 6, 2010
Torrance woman cleared in fatal crash she blames on sudden acceleration, Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Toyota Fires Back At Plaintiffs With Sudden Acceleration Filing, WSJ, November 2, 2010
Toyota kept issue silent, lawsuit says, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2010
