Hidden Evidence: New Details In Paul Walker’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit
New details have emerged in the Fast and Furious cast member’s, Paul Walker, wrongful death lawsuit. The Daily Mail reports that employees at Porsche allegedly “hid damaging evidence, including emails” while being sued by the actor’s daughter Meadow Walker.
The actor’s life was cut short at the age of 40 on November 30 – 2013 when the sports car, a 2005 Carrera GT driven by his friend Roger Rodas – he was a passenger in, spun out of control and crashed into a light pole before bursting into flames, killing both occupants.
Although an investigation, which was conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, determined that speed was the cause of the crash, Paul Walker’s daughter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Porsche in September 2015, claiming that her father would still be alive if the car “company had installed proper safety features.”
Porsche worker joked about car in Paul Walker crash https://t.co/TmPG740oQ0 pic.twitter.com/VJyZAEnrbx
— Cristóbal Delatorre (@CristoFeliz1) February 16, 2017
A U.S. District Judge, Philip S. Gutierrez, ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to support her claim.
Recently, while one of Meadow’s lawyers was reviewing company emails, it was discovered that Porsche had been hiding emails from them – there were portions of the emails that had been “heavily redacted.”
New court documents indicated that an employee at Porsche allegedly joked about Paul Walker’s crash, saying that it would be good for future sales.
An email from 2006, that was sent to another Porsche employee, states the following, “I thought this might interest you. Another Carrera GT bites the dust as a body shop mechanic, who claimed he was going less than 30 mph, smashed into a telephone pole.”
“Looks like he was going more than 30 to me. As many as 200 of the 1,280 Carrera GTs, which Porsche produced had been ‘totaled’ in the first two years it was sold, 2004-2006.”
“I was curious about a statistic that was mentioned to me and if anyone knows if it is accurate. Total worldwide production of the Carrera GT was 1280 and to date over 200 of them were already totaled.”
“This would be great news to the remaining owners as the GT becomes more rare. Anyone know if these numbers are accurate?”
Another Porsche employee allegedly responded with, “This is in the back of my head every time I get behind the wheel of one of these. It’s just hidden behind the s**t-eating grin!”
It was alleged that Porsche redacted the emails and did not supply all evidence during Meadow’s wrongful death lawsuit because they allegedly knew the car wasn’t safe.
As a result of these recent findings, a request to sanction Porsche for allegedly hiding evidence was sent to a judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Paul Walker’s daughter is seeking $52,752.50, according to documents.
In a statement, Meadow’s lawyer Jeffrey L. Milam said, “Today’s filing is extremely significant. We have learned that Porsche has hidden damaging evidence showing it knew its Carrera GT – the car that killed Paul Walker – was dangerous and unsafe. Porsche concealed this information from the public to protect its image and brand.”
“Hidden records and emails show that Porsche management knew that more than 200 of the 1280 Carrera GTs produced from 2004 to 2006 may have been totaled within its first two years of sales,” Milam continued.
“Any ethical company would have withdrawn the car from the market – or, at the very least, warned the public about its dangers, particularly since Porsche had deliberately left its touted Porsche Stability Management system off this model.”
“The bottom line is that the Porsche Carrera GT is a dangerous car. It doesn’t belong on the street. And we shouldn’t be without Paul Walker or his friend, Roger Rodas.”
Porsche was contacted immediately after the new details in Paul Walker’s wrongful death lawsuit emerged to get their side of the story, but they were not available for comment.
[Featured Image By Joel Ryan/AP Images]
