U.S. federal judge gave Toyota 30 days to produce documents

US District Judge James Selna said that Toyota has up to 30 days from the date of the federal court ruling to turn over the documents demanded by class-action lawyers from old investigations over complaints of runaway cars.

Last month, scores of personal injury and class-action consumer claims filed in federal court against Toyota were consolidated. This is the first courtroom clash related to these suits that Toyota has had to participate in since then.
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kpaxx - 5/31/2010 3:29:49 PM

+1 Boost

shouldn't be a problem toyota already has shredded all the important documents after Biller's case!

Steve - 5/31/2010 5:31:16 PM

+2 Boost

From the article "...two key US lawmakers have gotten the impression that Toyota 'consistently dismissed the possibility' of electronic failures for years without thoroughly examining the issue..."

They "got the impression" of a "possibility." Sounds to me like shakey ground to be be standing on. It appears to me that accusations have been made against Toyota, and we are demanding that they prove their innocence. That equates to "guilty until proven innocent." The judge is seeking documents from Toyota that supports people's beliefs that there is a defect.

All we really need is the *proof* that these accidents were actually caused by a Toyota defect. Just prove guilt! Prove it in just one case. Not a possibility that it might have happened this way, but actual proof that it *did*. Call out the CSIs. Oh, they did. Call out the experts. Um, they did, too. Get NASA involved. We did that, too. So far, nobody has been able to prove that a Toyota defect is responsible for this public and legal frenzy.

Shades of Audi, where a car company was indicted and found guilty by media and public opinion. And the accusers and believers turned out to be wrong.

Note that I am not saying Toyota is innocent. I am merely highlighting the thing most folks are missing: Nobody has proven Toyota is guilt, yet everyone wants Toyota's head.

91z4me - 5/31/2010 10:43:15 PM

+1 Boost

If this is a civil case and not criminal then there is no guilty. Only a preponderance of the evidence to decide if cause for payment should occur. In these matters the burden of proof lies on those seeking monies. But to be fair both parties must release information to the other in order for a case to be presented, discovery.

Didn't you watch "My Cousin Vinny?"

Joe_Limon - 5/31/2010 7:53:14 PM

+4 Boost

Maybe Hyundai should ditch their sub $10,000 Accent that doesn't even have air conditioning, power locks, or even a radio if they want to be considered upmarket?

uaw_lax - 5/31/2010 11:14:07 PM

+5 Boost

The return of Hyundia Smoke?!

nguyenvuminh - 5/31/2010 9:54:10 PM

+5 Boost

To those who say this court order is akin to head hunting, isn't this court order part of the discovery process to arrive at a conclusion, be it innocence or guilt? why don't we wait to see what the court find?

Agent009 - 6/1/2010 9:25:03 AM

-1 Boost

Time to see what REALLY happened.

There is a lot of misinformation out there, but the real question is who is giving it?