Experts Inspecting Deadly Toyota as Minnesota Prisoner Awaits Results

ST. PAUL, Minn., April 20 -- Automotive experts today are inspecting a Toyota Camry driven by Koua Fong Lee prior to a 2006 crash that killed three people and landed Mr. Lee in prison.

The two-day inspection began this morning at the St. Paul Police Department impound lot, and is being handled by an automotive expert hired by Mr. Lee's attorneys and a mechanical engineer hired by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office.

Attorneys Robert Hilliard from the Corpus Christi, Texas-based law firm of Hilliard Munoz Guerra LLP and Brent Schafer of Minneapolis requested the inspection last month when they filed a petition for a new trial in Mr. Lee's case, Koua Fong Lee v. State of Minnesota, No. 62-K8-07-000965. The petition includes nearly two dozen affidavits from individuals that experienced sudden, unintended acceleration in older model Toyota vehicles, including several owners of the same 1996 Toyota Camry model as Mr. Lee.

"It is our firm belief that Mr. Lee did everything he could to stop his car that day, and that the well-documented problems with his Toyota are the true culprit here," says Mr. Hilliard. "Once the results of this inspection are known, we hope Mr. Lee will be quickly granted a new trial so a jury can hear all of the facts of this case."

In June 2006, Mr. Lee was driving his Toyota Camry when it unexpectedly accelerated before crashing into another car and killing Javis Adams, 33, his son Javis Adams Jr., 10, and his niece Devyn Bolton, 7. Mr. Lee was convicted of criminal vehicular homicide in October 2007 and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Mr. Lee's Toyota Camry was subject to a limited recall based on a cruise-control problem that caused the cars to unintentionally accelerate, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received numerous reports of sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles from the 1996 model year.

Mr. Hilliard currently is handling several cases involving people hurt or killed by runaway Toyotas, including a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of all Texas residents who have purchased Toyota and Lexus vehicles with faulty electronic throttle control systems.

For more than 25 years, Hilliard Munoz Guerra LLP has represented individuals from across the United States in a variety of personal injury, breach of contract, fraud and negligence claims, including cases involving refinery explosions, trucking accidents, toxic exposure, and dangerous prescription drugs. More information on the firm is found at http://www.hmglawfirm.com/ or http://www.toyotasafetylawyer.com/.

For more information, contact Alan Bentrup at 800-559-4534 or alan@androvett.com.