Mezo et al. v. FCA US LLC et al.

Product liability, wrongful death

Ventura County

Superior Court Judge Vincent J. O'Neill

Plaintiffs' attorneys: Crockett & Associates, Robert D. Crockett, Brian D. Walters, Chase T. Tajima

While a gear shifter was the focal point of a wrongful death case involving a 94-year-old man, jurors didn't find the car part to be defective.

In 2016, Morton Lavin was injured in a roll-away incident involving his 2013 Chrysler 300. He died months later at an assisted living facility as a result of those injuries, the plaintiffs' attorneys argued. Mezo et al. v. FCA US LLC et al., 56-2017-00498513 (Ventura County Sup. Ct., filed July 3, 2017)

They said the shifter was defective because of the lack of an automatic park feature. They also said Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued a recall of the gear shifter and add that feature months before the incident, though the remedy was not available until afterward.

The shifter automatically places a vehicle in park if the driver attempts to exit the vehicle without confirming it is in park.

"But this was a very unique kind of recall because there was never a determination made that there was a defect either electronic or mechanical in the shifter," said defense attorney Derek S. Whitefield of Dykema Gossett PLLC. "What they decided to do was add a new feature to the vehicle that it didn't' have when it was sold that would put the vehicle in park if the driver attempted to take his seatbelt off and open the door with the vehicle in gear."

Philip R. Cosgrove

Whitefield said the question was whether a vehicle lacking the feature in 2013 was defective.

"Ninety-six percent of cars on the road in 2013 did not have auto park," he said. "So that was a big, big feature of our defense." Ultimately, the case came down to the driver.

"I had to, No. 1, help the jury understand that there wasn't anything about the shifter that made it difficult or prevented the driver from putting the car in park," he said. "He just didn't do it."

But plaintiffs' attorney Robert D. Crockett said he thought the case would be open-and-shut given other cases involving similar injuries and another death involving a well-known actor.

"There was plenty of evidence that Chrysler's were defective. ... Look at Anton Yelchin," he said. The actor who played Pavel Chekov in three "Star Trek" movies also died in 2016 in a vehicle roll-away death involving his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

In that case, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles confidentially settled with Yelchin's family out of court.

In the Lavin matter, the jury unanimously gave a verdict in favor of the defense and didn't find the shifter defective nor the car company responsible for his death.

Whitefield said the judge issued a tentative ruling in January 2020 awarding defendants $257,000 in costs and that after a settlement, the plaintiffs will also pay Fiat Chrysler Automobiles $125,000, then dismiss their appeals.

"We've given the court notice of the settlement, but we have not yet completed the amending of the judgment," Whitefield said.

-- Arin Mikailian