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http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100427/OEM/100429844/1290Expert: Inspection of Toyota in fatal Minn. crash showed cruise-control problems
An inspection of a 1996 Camry that was involved in a St. Paul crash that killed three people has yielded possible indications of a problem with the cruise control.
Last week an expert mechanic retained by attorneys for Koua Fong Lee, the man driving the car in the June 10, 2006. crash, "came out and said, 'It seems like there's something wrong with this cruise control,' " said Robert Hilliard, a Corpus Christi, Texas, attorney representing Lee.
The Ramsey County attorney's office, which arranged for the inspection and has its own expert there, declined comment until the process was complete.
Today, that man, Koua Fong Lee Lee, 32, of St. Paul, who was sentenced to eight years in prison after a Ramsey County jury found him guilty of criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular injury and careless driving, was released a free man after a judge ordered a new trial and a prosecutor said she wouldn't prolong the case.
Koua Fong Lee, 32, of St. Paul, jumped up and hugged his attorney after Ramsey County District Judge Joanne Smith said she had seen enough new evidence to warrant a retrial. Soon after, county attorney Susan Gaertner said there wouldn't be one.
"I think it's time to bring this very sad situation to a close," Gaertner said.
Lee's wife, Panghoua Moua, sobbed when the judge announced her decision. The couple has four children, ages 8, 5, 3 and 2, and Moua said her husband barely knows the youngest two because of his time in prison.
"I'm just happy that the judge made the right decision," a radiant Moua said afterward.
Over four days of testimony this week, Lee's attorneys didn't prove his car had a sudden acceleration problem. But they argued evidence backed up Lee's account he was trying to brake. They also argued his defense attorney did a poor job. And they called a parade of witnesses who testified they had sudden-acceleration experiences in Toyotas similar to Lee's.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38583622/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/And Toyota remained silent while a man sat in jail. May the rest of his life be peaceful.