Hartline Barger Scores Trial Victory on Tire Disablement Case

Hartline Barger’s New Mexico team (attorney Don DeCandia, paralegal Maria Padilla and secretary Carla Bond) together with counsel from Yoka Smith, LLP, recently secured a defense judgment for tire manufacturer Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) following a two-week bench trial in New Mexico Federal Court. The claim involved a tire disablement followed by a rollover accident in which one person died and three were injured. The plaintiffs, represented by Randi McGinn of McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry, alleged that the tire was defectively manufactured and/or designed. The Honorable Kea Riggs, however, rejected all of Plaintiffs’ claims and entered a defense judgment in favor of CTA. Judge Riggs found that the tire was not defective, that CTA was not negligent and that actions/omissions by the driver and the company that owned the work truck caused and/or contributed to the crash.