Jury Finds for General Motors in Death Case

Newsome v. General Motors Corp.

An El Paso jury determined that General Motors was not liable for the death of El Paso resident Dominic Sol Newsome.  Mr. Newsome was killed in an automobile accident in 1997 when his S-10 pickup was struck from behind by another vehicle driven by Otillia Torres, a drunk driver. The Plaintiff argued that Dominic Newsome’s seatbelt spontaneously unlatched during the accident, allowing him to be ejected when the pickup rolled over.  GM countered that there was no evidence Dominic Newsome was even wearing the seatbelt at the time.  After approximately two days of deliberation, the jury agreed with GM, finding that Dominic Newsome’s death was not caused by any defect in his pickup, and assigning 100% of the fault to the drunk driver.  GM was represented by David Prichard and Daniela Gonzales Aldape of the San Antonio office of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young.  The Plaintiff, Mr. Newsome’s father, was represented at trial by Leon Russel of Dallas, Texas.