NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal jury on Friday decided DaimlerChrysler AG must pay $750,000 to a family of a 5-year-old boy killed by an air bag, the first such case to reach trial.
The jury, after a one-month trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, decided the car maker was 50-percent responsible for the death of Michael Crespo during a family vacation to Puerto Rico in 1995. The jury did not specifically rule on who is responsible for the other half.DaimlerChrysler in a statement denounced the verdict finding that air bags were unreasonably dangerous. Germany's Daimler-Benz AG merged with the Chrysler Corp. last month.
"It is unfortunate that the jury appears to have let their emotions cloud their judgment," said Ken Gluckman, the car maker's associate counsel. "The sad truth is that child would be alive today if his father made sure that he was wearing his seat belt."
The statement alleged that Crespo's father, Jose Liz, drove his rented minivan the wrong way down a dangerously steep and narrow private drive before striking another car head on. The statement also said this was the first ever child air bag death case to reach trial.
After the verdict, the father told the U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff, "Justice was done."
Gary Douglas, lawyer for the child's family, argued in the case that DaimlerChrysler had known as early as 1970 that air bags would kill children if they were not wearing seat belts.
"This case was a 9 mph fender bender and this child should have walked away with a bruise at the worst," he said.