AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Texas Supreme Court has thrown out a $15.8 million civil trial judgment involving a wreck that killed four members of a family in northern Texas.
The court ruled unanimously Friday that lawyers improperly introduced evidence that a gravel truck driver blamed for the 2002 accident in Wise County was an illegal immigrant.
The justices said that was an attempt to inflame jurors' passions against the driver and his employer, TXI Transportation Co.
The court ordered a new trial while also handing a victory to the family of the victims. The court ruled 7-1 that the family can reintroduce testimony from an accident reconstruction expert that blamed the crash on the truck driver.
---
Information from Austin American-Statesman
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
