Koua Fong Lee moved one step closer Monday to suing Toyota Motor Corp.

Lee's attorney, Brent Schafer, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan that Toyota agreed late Friday to drop its objection to Lee's lawsuit being joined with one filed by Bridgette Trice, the mother of Devyn Bolton, one of three victims who died as a result of the June 2006 crash.

The agreement was reached with the stipulation that a request for punitive damages be removed from Lee's lawsuit.

That stipulation should be filed in federal court in the next day or two. Lee's complaint must be filed within five days of that, Schafer said.

Lee, 32, of St. Paul, was driving his family home the afternoon of June 10, 2006, in a 1996 Camry. He took the Snelling Avenue exit ramp off Interstate 94, but instead of slowing down, the car accelerated. He slammed into the back of another car waiting at a red light. Javis Adams Sr., and his son, Javis Jr., died at the scene. Devyn was left a quadriplegic and died about 1 1/2 years later.

Lee was convicted of criminal vehicular homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison. His case got another look after Toyota began its massive recall of newer cars because of problems that included sudden unintended acceleration.

He was freed in August after about a dozen people testified at an evidentiary hearing that their cars -- identical or nearly identical to Lee's Camry -- had experienced "runaway" engines or sudden acceleration. Ramsey County District Judge Joanne Smith ruled after the hearing that there was enough new evidence to grant Lee a new trial. County Attorney Susan Gaertner said shortly thereafter that the charges against Lee would be dismissed.

Schafer has said that the purpose of joining the lawsuits is so they are heard by one judge. Lee's complaint will allege that the throttle in his 1996 Camry was defective. Toyota either knew or should have known about it and should have warned drivers or recalled the cars, the complaint will say.

"If Toyota is to blame, they should be held responsible," Schafer said on behalf of Lee. "He believes it was the car."

Lee did not appear in court Monday. Boylan, the magistrate judge, took the motion to intervene under advisement pending filing of the stipulation.

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992