Appeals court upholds $9 million award in Ford Explorer accident death

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court panel upheld a $9 million jury award Tuesday to a south Georgia man whose 11-year-old son burned to death in a 1997 highway accident, rejecting Ford Motor Co. claims involving inconsistent jury verdicts and pretrial publicity. <br> <br> The jury made the award two years ago to Richard R. Mason of Thomas County, whose son, Dick Bob Mason, burned to death when the Ford Explorer in which he was riding was struck at an intersection by a pickup truck. <br> <br> The suit claimed Ford&#39;s design of its 1992 Explorer&#39;s fuel tank was defective. <br> <br> Ford argued in its appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a new trial was required because the jury found no liability on a negligence claim but found in favor of the plaintiffs on a strict liability claim. <br> <br> The judges said Ford raised the issue too late for it to be considered in an appeal. <br> <br> The company&#39;s lawyers also had claimed that Ford could not get a fair trial amid widespread news coverage of fatal accidents linked to Bridgestone/Firestone tires on Ford vehicles. <br> <br> The appeals court ruled that the trial court ``took reasonable measures to assure that publicity from the Ford-Firestone controversy did not affect the outcome of the case before it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash denied a mistrial motion on the issue after calling the jurors in one by one, and each said the publicity made no difference.