Santa Fe judge lets $165 million verdict against FedEx stand

[TexasTowelie]

SANTA FE – The FedEx shipping company’s motion for a new trial in a wrongful death suit that resulted in the New Mexico’s largest-ever jury award was rejected here Wednesday by a Santa Fe judge, who also declined to reduce the jury’s $165 million judgment.

A corporate spokesman for FedEx said later that the company, which was sued over a southern New Mexico crash involving a FedEx truck in which a mother and daughter were killed in 2011, will take the case to the state Court of Appeals.

“We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragic accident,” said FedEx’s Perry Colosimo. “With regard to the judge’s ruling on post-trial motions, we respectfully disagree and will appeal.”

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, a plaintiffs’ lawyer in the case, tweeted after state District Judge Francis Mathew affirmed the verdicts, saying the judge had denied motions intended “to avoid (the) good judgement of jurors.” Cervantes said later that the case “remains a sad story” for the family of crash victims Marialy Morga, 22, and her daughter Ylairam, age 4, of El Paso. A large contingent of relatives were in the courtroom Wednesday, and “they appreciated the judge’s affirmation of the hard work done by the jury in January,” said Cervantes.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/616667/news/santa-fe-judge-lets-165-million-verdict-against-fedex-stand.html