06:58 30-12-2025

Pennsylvania appeals court tosses $1B Mitsubishi liability verdict

Pennsylvania appeals court voided a $1.01B Mitsubishi product-liability verdict over a 3000GT rollover, citing flawed jury instructions. A new trial is ordered.

Pennsylvania has thrown out one of the most headline-grabbing automaker liability verdicts in recent years. A jury had ordered Mitsubishi to pay more than $1 billion to the family of an injured driver, but an appeals court ruled the trial must start over.

The case traces back to a crash involving an older model, a 1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT. In 2017, while attempting to pass traffic, the driver lost control, struck trees and the car rolled over. Despite wearing a seat belt, a head impact with the roof left him paralyzed.

The lawsuit rested on two claims: the seat belt was allegedly defective, and the roof was too low and hazardous in a rollover. Jurors agreed and issued a precisely calculated award — about $1.01 billion. The total combined compensatory damages — medical care, future expenses, lost income and noneconomic harm — with a substantial block of punitive damages.

Mitsubishi appealed, and the appeals court pointed to a core issue: the jury did not receive clear enough legal instructions, including how to weigh a safer alternative design and how to assess injuries that might have occurred under a different vehicle configuration. As a result, the verdict was deemed unreliable and the case was sent back for a new trial, effectively resetting the proceedings and arguments. It’s a revealing reminder that in product-liability battles, outcomes often hinge less on big numbers than on the exact wording jurors are asked to follow.