---

Ohio Jury Finds That DaimlerChrysler Was Not Responsible for Man's Death

24 May 1999

Ohio Jury Finds That DaimlerChrysler Corporation Was Not Responsible for Man's Death

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 21 -- DaimlerChrysler Corporation
scored a legal victory yesterday when an Ohio jury concluded that
the company was not responsible for the death of an 80-year-old man.  After
just one hour of deliberation, the jury found that Fred Holland mistakenly
placed his 1989 Dodge Caravan in reverse causing it to run over him as he
tried to re-enter the minivan.
    Following the August 7, 1996 accident, Mr. Holland's family filed a multi-
million dollar wrongful death lawsuit in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common
Pleas against the former Chrysler Corporation.  Plaintiffs alleged that the
minivan was defective because it moved from park to reverse by itself causing
Mr. Holland's death.  However, the jury disagreed, and refused to award the
family any money.
    "While the accident was a tragedy, the jury properly based its decision on
the facts and the law, rather than emotion.  The bottom line is that when you
place a minivan in reverse, it is going to back up," said Ken Gluckman,
DaimlerChrysler's Assistant General Counsel.  "This case is about personal
responsibility, not product liability."
    An officer from the Hinckley (Ohio) Police Department testified at trial
that when he arrived at the scene, he checked the transmission inside the
minivan and found the shift lever in the reverse position.  DaimlerChrysler
Corporation experts also blamed the accident on human error contending there
was nothing wrong with the vehicle's transmission.
    Larry Sutter of Reminger and Reminger, Cleveland, Ohio and Rodger Kesley,
DaimlerChrysler Corporation Senior Staff Counsel, represented the company in
the four-day trial with the Honorable William Aurelius presiding.