tesla under fire with new Trial

[Shola joshua]

It’s been a while since a courtroom drama has carried the weight of a global icon’s name, but that’s exactly what unfolded in Miami on Monday, July 14, 2025. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was nowhere to be seen, yet his presence dominated the jury selection for a federal civil lawsuit tied to a 2019 Tesla Model S crash in Florida.

The incident, which claimed the life of pedestrian Naibel Benavides and left her boyfriend Dillon Angulo gravely injured while the car operated in Autopilot mode, has thrust the billionaire’s influence into sharp focus. The trial kicked off with a jury of six women and three men, but not before potential jurors aired their struggles with Musk’s towering persona.

“Anything that involves Elon Musk is very hard for me,” one juror admitted, echoing a sentiment that rippled through the room. Another prospective juror flat-out said she couldn’t be fair to Tesla, citing the company’s “ethics, ownership, and what I’ve seen in the news about its relation to the government.”

This comes on the heels of Musk’s high-profile stint as a top advisor to President Donald Trump, a role that cemented his status as a household name amid sweeping federal workforce cuts through his brainchild, the Department of Government Efficiency. His recent fallout with Trump over tax reforms and spending bills only added fuel to the fire, turning a typically dry congressional process into a headline-grabbing saga.

Tesla’s lawyer, Thomas Branigan, acknowledged the challenge, noting, “It’s hard to hear the name Elon Musk and not have a view, positive or negative.” He stressed that the case isn’t about Musk himself but his undeniable link to Tesla, probing whether jurors could set aside their biases. Three candidates raised their hands, confessing opinions about Musk that they felt would cloud their judgment. One man hesitated, saying, “It would be hard. I understand he isn’t Tesla. But he is very tied to the Tesla brand,” unsure if he could detach his views. Others who’d previously criticized Musk doubled down, though one juror insisted, “This case is more about what happened rather than who it’s for,” pledging impartiality focused on the accident itself.

The lawsuit, filed by Benavides’ family and Angulo in U.S. District Court, targets Tesla, not the driver, George McGee, who settled with the plaintiffs earlier and isn’t a defendant.

The core allegation? Tesla’s Autopilot feature was defective and unsafe, a claim echoed in over a dozen similar cases involving fatal or injurious crashes with Autopilot or the premium Full Self-Driving (Supervised) modes.

Tesla’s website pitches Autopilot as an “advanced driver assistance system that enhances safety and convenience,” while FSD promises near-autonomous driving under active supervision—features standard on new models.

As the trial unfolded, plaintiff attorney Brett Schreiber set a combative tone, arguing, “Evidence will show for years before and after this crime, Tesla ignored warnings.” He hinted at a Silicon Valley mindset of “moving fast and breaking things” as a possible motive, framing it as a case of “shared responsibility.” Schreiber pointed to the undisputed fact that McGee was distracted, dropping his phone and speeding at 60 miles per hour into the victims, yet insisted Tesla “set the stage” for the tragedy.

He plans to introduce evidence of Musk’s bold claims, like calling Tesla cars “safer than a human” at a conference, to challenge the company’s narrative.

Tesla, however, stands firm. In a statement to NBC News, the company countered, “The evidence clearly shows that this crash had nothing to do with Tesla’s Autopilot technology. Instead, like so many unfortunate accidents since cell phones were invented, this was caused by a distracted driver.” They noted McGee’s admission of fault—searching for his phone while accelerating and overriding the system—and argued that in 2019, no crash avoidance tech could have prevented it.

Reported by Dan Mangan from New York and Maria Pinero from Miami, the trial’s early stages suggest a battle not just over liability, but over the legacy of Musk’s ambitious vision in the face of a devastating loss.

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