Overview

• A Miami federal jury found Tesla 33 percent liable for the crash and awarded $42.5 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages, totaling $242.5 million.
• The verdict traces back to the April 2019 incident when a Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode ran a stop sign, crossed an intersection and struck a parked SUV, killing pedestrian Naibel Benavides Leon and injuring Dillon Angulo.
• Tesla asserted that driver distraction and an accelerator override caused the collision, argued that no vehicle in 2019 could have prevented the crash and said it will challenge the verdict in appeal.
• This is the first time a federal jury has assigned liability for a third-party death linked to Tesla’s Autopilot, intensifying scrutiny of the system’s marketing language and adequacy of driver warnings.
• Legal analysts say the landmark decision could influence upcoming NHTSA investigations, future product-liability standards and consumer confidence as Tesla advances its self-driving and robotaxi plans.