Toyota's Recalls May Help Man Convicted Of Vehicular Homicide

Toyota's woes may prove a boon to a Minnesota man who was convicted of vehicular homicide. He claimed, at the time, that his Camry suddenly accelerated and slammed into another car, killing three members of a family.

In June 10, 2006, Koua Fong Lee, 32, was driving home from church. In his 1996 Toyota Camry were his pregnant wife, his daughter, brother and father. After exiting Interstate 94 he smashed into the back of an Oldsmobile. The Camry hit the other car at a speed estimated between 70 and 90 miles per hour. Lee testified he shouted to his family, "Brakes, brakes not working," just before the crash.

Javis Adams and his 10-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr., died at the scene. Devyn Bolton succumbed to injuries from the crash a year later.

After Toyota's recent swarm of recalls, Lee's lawyers discovered that some 1996 Camrys had been themselves the subject of a recall because of "unintended acceleration" caused by a flaw in the cruise control. The recall was not presented as evidence at the trial.

In fact, while a 1996 model would not be among those in Toyota's recent recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 17 complaints from owners of other 1996 Camrys alleging sudden acceleration. Among them:

• "Vehicle accelerated on its own."
• "It was a very dangerous situation."
• "The vehicle reached speeds of 60-80 mph while running two stop signs. Had to crash into a tree and another vehicle to stop the vehicle."

The last was very recently reported, in Oct. 2009.

Lee was given an eight year sentence and has been in prison for two. In criminal cases, a reasonable doubt is all that is necessary for an innocent verdict, and it appears reasonable doubt has even reached the family of those killed.

Bridgette Trice, whose seven-year old daughter later died from injuries suffered in the accident, as noted above, said "I can't believe that a guy with his pregnant wife, a kid in a car seat, his father-in-law and a brother-in-law in the car, would purposely be speeding up this ramp like that. Maybe there is something to what Mr. Lee said was going on with him in his car, that he couldn't stop, that he tried his hardest, and the brakes, that his car wouldn't stop. He's never wavered on his story that his brakes were bad."

Watch a video report: