Davis v. Honda
We successfully challenged a court secrecy order and unsealed a scathing 36-page decision that sanctioned American Honda Motor Company (Honda) and its expert witness for deliberately tampering with evidence. The lawsuit was based on a 1999 accident in a Honda Civic that left plaintiff Sarah Davis, then 17 years old, a quadriplegic. The sanctions decision held the automaker liable after the court found that Honda’s expert witness, Robert Gratzinger, had deliberately tampered with key evidence in the case. However, the sanctions decision was vacated and sealed from public view as part of a settlement. We filed motions on behalf of a national auto safety group and attorneys representing car crash victims in Tennessee and Mississippi, who successfully sought to end the secrecy blanketing the decision. Our co-counsel were Dina Micheletti and Jeffrey Fazio of San Mateo, California.
Case Documents
Order Unsealing Record and Striking Portions of Sealing Order
(Cal. Super. Ct. October 26, 2005)Motion by Center for Auto Safety et al. to Unseal Sanctions Decision
(Cal. Super. Ct. Sept. 12, 2005)Order After Hearing Imposing Sanctions Against Honda Defendants, and Resuming Trial On the Issue of Damages Only
(Cal. Super. Ct., Oct. 3, 2002)
