Tesla has officially petitioned a court to overturn a $243 million jury verdict that held the company partially liable for a 2019 fatal crash involving its Autopilot software. The motion, filed this past Friday, challenges the legal basis of the judgment awarded to the families of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides, who died after a Model S collided with her and her partner, Dillon Angulo.
Challenging the Liability Ruling
In the legal filing, Tesla’s defense team argues that the driver of the Model S—not the vehicle’s software—bears full responsibility for the accident. The company is urging the court to either invalidate the verdict entirely or grant a new jury trial.
“The $243 million judgment against Tesla flies in the face of basic Florida tort law, the Due Process Clause, and common sense,” Tesla’s attorneys stated. The defense emphasized that the driver had manually pressed the accelerator to override the Autopilot system in the moments leading up to the collision, arguing that “auto manufacturers do not insure the world against harms caused by reckless drivers.”
Disputing Evidence and Allegations
Beyond the core liability argument, Tesla’s legal counsel at Gibson Dunn is contesting the admissibility of statements made by CEO Elon Musk. The defense claims that Musk’s public assertions regarding the vehicle’s autonomous capabilities should not have been presented to the jury as evidence.
Furthermore, the filing addresses accusations that Tesla withheld critical camera data from law enforcement during the initial crash investigation. Tesla labels these claims as false and asserts that they were used to unfairly “inflame” the jury against the company during the proceedings.
Plaintiff Response to the Motion
Legal representatives for the plaintiffs have pushed back against Tesla’s latest move. Brett Schreiber, an attorney for the families, characterized the motion as a continued refusal by Tesla and Musk to acknowledge the impact of their technology.
“The jury heard all the facts and came to the right conclusion that this was a case of shared responsibility,” Schreiber stated. The plaintiffs maintain that the verdict addresses Tesla’s “reckless and unsafe development and deployment” of the Autopilot system and expressed confidence that the court will uphold the original decision.
