Tesla fails to overturn $243 million Autopilot verdict

A judge in Florida has denied Tesla’s request to overturn a $243 million jury verdict that held the automaker partially responsible for a fatal crash involving Autopilot, Tesla’s driver assistance system. The ruling by the court maintains the company’s liability in the 2019 incident, which resulted in the death of Naibel Benavides and left Dillon Angulo critically injured.

The legal battle follows a trial last August, where a jury awarded the $243 million verdict. The case centered on a 2019 fatal crash in Florida that killed Naibel Benavides and critically injured Dillon Angulo. In its decision, the jury did not place the entirety of the blame on a single party. Instead, the jury assigned two-thirds of the blame to the driver of the vehicle and attributed one-third of the blame to Tesla. Notably, the jury assessed punitive damages—which are damages exceeding simple compensation and awarded to punish the defendant—only against Tesla.

In its petition to reverse the jury’s decision, Tesla’s lawyers argued that the blame for the crash rested on the driver, who helped cause the crash. However, Hon. Judge Beth Bloom rejected this argument, noting that the automaker’s arguments for relief had already been considered and rejected during the trial. The court’s decision leaves the jury’s original allocation of responsibility intact.

In her decision, Judge Bloom emphasized that the company’s legal arguments lacked new merit. “The grounds for relief that Tesla relies upon are virtually the same as those Tesla put forth previously during the course of trial and in their briefings on summary judgment — arguments that were already considered and rejected,” Judge Bloom wrote. She also stated that Tesla did not present additional arguments or controlling law that would persuade the court to alter its earlier decisions or the jury verdict. The briefings on summary judgment—defined as a court order ruling that no factual issues remain to be tried—had already addressed these points, according to the court’s ruling.

Why it matters

The court’s decision to uphold the $243 million verdict maintains Tesla’s liability in a fatal crash involving its Autopilot system, rejecting the company’s attempt to shift blame entirely to the driver.