Cause No. C-3505-14-F Yepez v. Filiberto Villarreal and Ford Motor Company
Partners Jaime A. Saenz and Trey Colvin defended Ford Motor Company in a product liability lawsuit filed on behalf of Maria Duran Yepez et. al. in the 332nd District Court in Hidalgo County, Texas. The lawsuit arose from a single vehicle rollover on September 29, 2013 involving a 2003 Ford Expedition driven by Filberto Villarreal. The crash resulted in the deaths of Heribero Villarreal and Pedro Yepez. Plaintiffs and Cross Plaintiff claimed that the Expedition was defective in its handling and stability and because it had electronic stability control only as an option as opposed to standard equipment in 2003.
The defense of the case focused on the stability and safety of the vehicle and on whether electronic stability control would have made any difference in a crash where the driver was travelling near 80 mph and made several major steering inputs. The defense also focused on the contributory negligence of the driver in how he operated the vehicle. The case was tried for seven days beginning on November 13, 2017. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Ford Motor Company by deciding that the 2003 Ford Expedition was not defective. The jury also decided that Mr. Villarreal was not negligent in how he handled the vehicle.
