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This story may seem unfamiliar to those who are ignorant to today’s current events. A Camry was an instrument of death according to Minnesota officials. Koua Fong Lee, a Hmong immigrant was driving the 1996 Camry, which was accelerating at an excess of 90 MPH when the vehicle struck another family’s automobile. The defendant was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter due to two deaths directly attributed to reckless driving and one death due to the injuries sustained from the crash.
How is this relevant, or more importantly, why is this worth writing about? Well, the defendant is requesting a new hearing; claiming now that the Toyota Camry accelerated, due to a manufacturer malfunction rather than human error. The defendant’s attorney feels his client is innocent and the Camry was the vessel of death as opposed to the driver of the vehicle.
Here is the part where the readers own speculation will run wild with different outcomes. With that being said, should the defendant be permitted to restate his case in front of a grand jury? The facts of the story, including a known acceleration problem in that year Camry, have been connected to other Camry incidents around the country. Does the United States Government really expect to give clemency to those who crashed a Camry into another car? It’s beyond my own comprehension to reasonably assume that any individual that has killed someone in a Camry is due to a brake or accelerator malfunction.
As long as you kill a family of three in a Camry or some sort of Toyota it’s no longer your fault. This is an absolutely outrageous request. The individuals behind bars are there because 12 credible individuals felt that it was necessary in order to preserve the safety of others.
So, I’ll pose the question to others. As most writing and especially journalism has a good amount of ambiguity; what do you think should happen in this case and others similar to this one?
-Kevin Coyne
Posted in Current Events
I can see exactly where you’re coming from. So many people have reported issues with their toyotas that the question is now becoming “what is the real story?” Are some people reporting this simply for money or publicity? Or is this similar to the incident with the 2008 prius that a state trooper had to stop on a high way as result of the malfunction? No one really Knows anymore.
The problem with stories like this is that it happens once and everyone’s talking about it like it’s a problem with every single camry. Could it have been caused by a fault in the car? Unfortunately yes, and that means there’s reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s guilt. In such a case, it’s the difference between putting a guilty man behind bars or letting an innocent man go.
Ms. Garretson:
You raise an excellent point and truly diversify the ambiguity with this entire Toyota situation. There have been reports of vehicles malfunctioning in the past; yet nothing was done to correct this malfunction. The fact that individuals are using this as a way out of a necessary prison sentence is just asinine.
In this case; a preponderance of the evidence will show, the failure of the Toyota Camry was due to human error as opposed to a technical malfunction. As you mentioned; “no one really knows” and I highly doubt anyone ever will.
Thank you for your comment and for visiting the Becker Journal Online.
Kevin Coyne