Moseley is a civil case in which the grieving.
parents of seventeen-year-old Shannon Moseley are bringing forth a suit against.
General Motors claiming that they are responsible for the death of their son.
On October 21, 1989, Shannon Moseley was driving his 1985 GMC pickup truck.
through an intersection where he was struck on the driver's side by a drunk.
driver in another pickup truck. The fuel tank in Shannon's truck burst, setting.
the car into flames shortly after the impact. The autopsy performed on Shannon.
Moseley confirmed that he died from thermal burns and smoke inhalation, not of.
the blow of the crash, which GM was arguing. This evidence suggests that there.
was in fact a defect and perhaps the manufacturers at General Motors were aware.
of this defect.
The Moseleys were rewarded $4,241,611.84 in compensatory damages. This amount was calculated by the jury and is an approximation of what Shannon Moseley's.
life would have been worth had he lived. The jury also rewarded $1.00 for pain.
and suffering. The reason fir this was to enable the jury to decide on an.
amount for punitive damages, if any. The number they came up with for punitive.
damages was $101,000,000. Since punitive damages are there to punish an action.
that has taken place and to prevent repetition of that action, this money was.
not fully rewarded to the plaintiff. In fact, the state of Georgia sought.
seventy-five percent of the $101 million while the other twenty-five percent.
went to the Moseleys in a product liability action.
The jury in this case had quite a few concerns which they had to resolve before.
delivering a verdict. The case was a devastating one, and particularly traumatic because the victim was just a child. Having two mourning parents in front of the jury must have swayed them in some way to have sympathy for the plaintiffs. Also, statements made by different witnesses created confusion and disputes among the facts in the case.