January 03, 2007

Jackson's Clarion-Ledger reports that the Mississippi Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, in an appeal by Ford Motor Corp. to re-instate a jury verdict in its favor in an important wrongful death suit.

L.C. Tennin, of Jackson, was driving on State Highway 7 when a Jeep Cherokee crossed into his lane and collided head-on with the his 1997 Ford Explorer. Tennin and his passenger were killed. The wrongful death lawsuit had alleged that the blaze that erupted after the wreck was caused by a faulty fuel system on the Explorer. Ford maintained the two young men's deaths were the result of the initial crash, not the fire. The jury agreed, but the trial judge overturned the verdict and found for the plaintiff as a sanction for alleged discovery abuse by Ford during the trial.