DEALS & SUITS

American Lawyer Newspapers Group, Inc. 

Texas Lawyer

March 17, 1997

HIPOLITO RAMOS SANCHEZ, et al. v. HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD., et al. p

Plaintiffs' attorneys Robert S. "Bob" Bennett of Houston and Robert C. Hilliard of Corpus Christi won a $ 30 million verdict Feb. 28 in Brownsville against Honda Motor Co. for the parents of a 10-year-old boy who died after an accident involving a Honda three-wheeled vehicle.

Honda turned to lawyers from Brown McCarroll & Oaks Hartline of Austin and Rodriguez, Colvin & Chaney of Brownsville for its defense.

A jury in 197th District Judge Darrell Hester's court returned a verdict finding negligence against Honda and the child's parents, Hipolito Ramos Sanchez and Alma Laura Galvan de Ramos, both of Matamoros, Mexico. The jury also found a design defect and a marketing defect in the 1983 Honda ATC 200E. In their 10-2 verdict, jurors assessed one-third liability against the child's mother, one-third against his father and one-third against Honda and the ATC. 

The jury awarded $ 15 million in actual damages to each parent, but wasn't asked to consider punitive damages.

In their suit, filed in 1995, the plaintiffs alleged that design and marketing defects in the three-wheeled vehicle caused their son's death. The 10-year-old boy, Hipolito Ramos Galvan, was driving the ATC in February 1995 on a road near Matamoros when it flipped, killing him.