There still is no evidence showing Porsche is at fault for the death of Paul Walker in 2013, but attorneys for Walker’s daughter believe not all relevant evidence has been made available.
Attorneys for Meadow Walker filed documents in Los Angeles Superior Court this week that say Porsche’s North American division attempted to hide and censor e-mails containing damaging information during the discovery process of her wrongful death suit against the automaker, USA TODAY reports. One of Walker’s attorneys claims to have viewed case-related materials on his iMac that previously had appeared as redacted on his PC. The attorney claims the censored materials were the “exact type of information” Porsche had been ordered to produce.
Walker and his passenger, Roger Rodas, died in 2013 after the popular actor crashed a rare Carrera GT. One of the e-mails revealed in this week’s motion reportedly refers to the accident rate of the model Walker was driving.
“As many as 200 of the 1,200 Carrera GTs which Porsche produced had been ‘totaled’ in the first two years it was sold (2004-2006),” the author of the e-mail, when sending news of a body shop employee crashing a vehicle into a telephone pole, said via USA TODAY. “Another Carrera GT bites the dust, looks like he was going more than 30 (mph) to me!”
Additional redacted material reportedly includes witness identities, as well marketing material about the Porsche Stability System. The PSM is an electronic safety system which was intentionally left off the Carrera GT, according to USA TODAY.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2006 ruled that stability control systems must be in all cars sold in the U.S. by 2012. Moreover, the Insurance Institute for Highway safety estimates these systems could prevent roughly one-third of all fatal crashes.
Jeffrey L. Milam, Meadow Walker’s lead attorney, said Porsche’s actions ruin its credibility in the case.
“(Porsche) has demonstrated an intent and practice to conceal evidence and deny plaintiff access to critical and relevant information that is necessary for a full and fair trial,” Milam said in the motion. “Plaintiff has no assurance this practice will cease, and based on (Porsche’s) misconduct, plaintiff can no longer rely on any statements or representations by defense counsel.”
In the motion, Milam asks for Porsche to be fined $53,000, though additional sanctions are possible at the discretion of the court.
Thumbnail photo via YouTube/Wacky Wednesday
