Brent Schafer, the attorney who represented Koua Fong Lee of St. Paul in his criminal case after a deadly car accident and is representing him in a civil action against Toyota, said, "This report has no impact on Mr. Lee's case [against Toyota] nor does it provide an explanation for why he experienced a sudden unintended acceleration event or why others driving the same make and model experienced a SUA event.
"We feel that based upon our investigation ... there is a defect in the 1996 Camry that caused this accident."
Attorney Mike Padden is representing the families of the victims killed in the crash with Lee's car. As for the government's report, he said, "I really don't think it will have any impact. We're taking the case forward on its own merits."
Based on a motion by Toyota to dismiss the lawsuit, Padden said, "We will be filing and serving an amended complaint." He said he couldn't comment on the substance of that amended complaint Tuesday.
PAT PFEIFER
