CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Jon Marko delivering his opening statement
Pontiac, MI - A Michigan state court jury heard opening statements Thursday in a lawsuit accusing Continental Automotive Systems Inc. of responsibility for a child’s head injuries after a test vehicle slammed into a guardrail during a field trip, and the full trial is being webcast gavel-to-gavel via Courtroom View Network.
Plaintiff Vincent Gibson sued Continental after the crash in 2023, claiming his ten-year-old son sustained life-altering head injuries during a trip to a test track as part of a STEM summer camp. He claimed organizers purposefully had the driver lose control of his Mustang Dark Horse, a a prototype sports car on loan from Ford, to add excitement to the event.
Continental conceded liability for the child’s injuries, leaving the Oakland County jury tasked with determining what amount of compensation the injuries warrant. The company’s attorney suggested an amount of $10 million in his opening statement, arguing an anticipated damages request from plaintiff attorney Jon Marko in excess of $25 million isn’t supported by the evidence.
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Despite the anticipated three-to five week length of the trial, Marko told jurors the case isn’t complex.
“This is a really simple case,” he said. “The defendant, Continental, put a bunch of a little kids next to a race track and a driver crashed a prototype car into them.”
He urged jurors to reject the claim Continental accepts liability for the accident, suggesting that conceding liability but attempting to minimize a traumatic brain injury and multiple surgeries shows the company is still attempting to evade actual responsibility.
Marko argued the driver of the test vehicle lacked the proper qualifications, and that event organizers should have known putting spectators, especially children, so close to the guardrail would be unreasonably dangerous.
However with liability already stipulated, Marko spent the bulk of his opening on the injuries sustained. He told jurors Gibson’s son went from being an academically gifted star student to struggling with basic tasks, and he suggested his future earning power and employment prospects would be significantly hampered by his permanent brain injury. Marko previewed that much of testimony in the trial would involve dueling experts opining on the extent of any alleged recovery.
He didn’t ask for a specific amount of damages in his opening, however defense attorney Jonathan Ebner of Clyde & Co. suggested Marko’s future life care plan alone would exceed $25 million, and that damages for unspecified future medical expenses would also be "a lot."
CVN screenshot of defense attorney Jonathan Ebner delivering his opening statement
Ebner told jurors Continental acknowledges multiples mistakes leading up to the accident, however he urged jurors not to let their evaluation of the injuries in the case be influenced by Continental’s stipulated liability.
“At the end of the day those mistakes don’t make the injuries worse,” he said. “The fact that it could have been avoided doesn’t make the injuries worse. The injuries are what they are. That’s what we should be focused on.”
Ebner characterized the plaintiffs’ recovery from his injuries as “amazing” and said any award of damages should reflect the progress he’s made. Ebner noted his grades recovered, and that many of the behavioral issues Marko detailed were normal for adolescent boys.
The trial is taking place before Judge David Cohen under docket # 24-209658-NO.
Email David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com