Hyundai Gets $10.5 Million Verdict Tossed for Lawyer Impropriety

A lawyer who lied to a judge tainted a trial against Hyundai Motor America over three deaths in a car crash, requiring reversal of a $10.5 million verdict and a new trial, a divided Mississippi Supreme Court ruled.

An attorney for the estates of the car occupants frustrated a post-trial investigation into jury influence when he falsely testified that he hadn’t hired an out-of-town “jury consultant” who posed as a revival preacher, the high court said Thursday.

“The testimony, admissions, and finding of deception on the trial court culminate in a finding that the appearance of taint permeating these proceedings ...