Camacho: Court Tosses Out Expert and $14 Million Verdict
Posted on December 17th, 2009
In Whirlpool Corp. v. Camacho, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Camachos’ expert witness evidence was legally insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The court reversed the jury’s $14 million verdict and rendered judgment that the Camachos taking nothing. The Camachos bought a used electric Whirlpool Easy Clean clothes dryer and installed it in their trailer home. One night, Margarita Camacho smelled smoke and looked down her hallway saw “fire coming from the rear part of the dryer and from inside the dryer.” The fire destroyed the trailer and killed her son, Joab, who was trapped in his bedroom. At trial, the Camachos presented an expert who testified that the corrugated design of the dryer’s lint transport was defectively designed. He opined that the…