Judge Rules that Porsche Not Liable To Actor Paul Walker's Death, Dismisses Wrongful Death Lawsuit

By Carlo Monzon
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker (September 12, 1973 - November 30, 2013) Flickr / Tim Evanson

A U.S. District Court judge has ruled in favor of Porsche after dismissing one of the three lawsuits filed against the luxury car maker regarding the deaths of actor Paul Walker and his friend and pro-am racer Roger Rodas. According to the ruling, the complainant was not able to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the deaths were caused by a malfunction in the vehicle.

The lawsuit was filed by Rodas' widow Kristine follow the crash that killed him and Walker in November of 2013. As stated in the suit, the vehicle, which was a Porsche Carrera GT had some mechanical issues as well as insufficient safety features. Specifically, Kristine noted that the faulty suspension and the lack of a racing fuel cell and a proper crash cage led to the deaths of the two individuals, LA Times reported.

However, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez said on Monday during a court hearing that Rodas died when he and walker collided, which would not have been prevented even with a crash cage. In addition, the judge noted that Rodas' fatal injuries was caused by the impact and not the fire from the racing fuel.

Due to the ruling, Mark Geragos, the legal representative of Kristine, said that they are planning on appealing the case.

The lawsuit Kristine is only one of the three filed against Porsche regarding the incident. The other one was from Walker's daughter Meadow, who claims that mechanical issues also led to her father's death.

The actor's father also filed a similar lawsuit against the car-maker.

But, even though the court dismissed one of the lawsuits, Meadow's lawyer Jeff Milan noted that the decision will not affect the other cases, US Magazine reported.

"The issues in the cases are very different," he said in a statement. "The federal case was filed on behalf of Roger Rodas, who was the driver of the Porsche Carrera GT and was killed instantly upon impact."

"Meadow's father, Paul Walker, was a passenger in the car," he continued. "He survived the crash but was trapped and burned to death because of the vehicle's defects. Meadow will continue to fight to hold Porsche accountable for selling a defective product that kills."

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