By Jeff Bennett
General Motors Co. has confirmed that the car accident involving
a Texas woman, who later plead guilty to criminal negligent
homicide in her fiancé's death, is among those linked to the
company's faulty ignition switch issue.
A confirmation email, sent Sunday by a GM lawyer, came hours
before Candice Anderson's attorney is set to ask a judge to clear
Ms. Anderson's criminal record. Attorney Bob Hilliard will argue
the request in a hearing Monday morning.
"Candice Anderson has lived with this wrongful conviction for
too long," Mr. Hilliard said. "GM allowed the victim to be
convicted. Now, on the day of the hearing to prove it was GM and
not Candice, GM admits what it has known since 2004."
A GM attorney said in an email to Mr. Hilliard the company "has
determined that the crash involving Ms. Anderson is one in which
the recall condition may have caused or contributed to the frontal
air bag non-deployment in the accident." Earlier this year, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told Ms. Anderson
her vehicle was counted by GM as an ignition switch accident. This
is the first time the auto maker has confirmed the information to
Ms. Anderson.
GM recalled 2.5 million vehicles earlier this year after
determining that too much weight or a jarring of the ignition can
move the ignition switch from"run" to "accessory" thereby cutting
power to the air bags and electric steering.
On Nov. 15, 2004, Ms. Anderson was driving her 2004 Saturn Ion
down a Texas road when she lost control and hit a tree. She and
fiancé, Gene Erickson, weren't wearing seat belts at the time. A
subsequent police investigation found Ms. Anderson had a trace
amount of Xanax in her system. She was later indicted by a grand
jury but she agreed to a lesser charge of criminally negligent
homicide. Ms. Anderson was fined and sentenced to five years'
probation.
GM gave Mr. Hilliard permission to submit the email to the Texas
court, and said the company is willing to provide whatever
technical information it has in connection with the accident.
Separately, the GM ignition switch compensation fund increased
the official death toll to 35 people. Compensation expert Ken
Feinberg is reviewing the claims and determining which are
eligible.
The fund has received 225 death claims as of Friday. A total of
33 were declared ineligible, 77 are deficient, 29 are under review
and 51 have no supporting documentation. The fund has also
confirmed 49 serious injuries.
A total of 2,180 claims have been filed. Mr. Feinberg recently
extended the claim filing period until Jan. 31. The deadline had
been the end of the year.
Write to Jeff Bennett at jeff.bennett@wsj.com
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