KEY LARGO, Fla. — New revelations are emerging following a landmark $243 million verdict against Tesla earlier this month — and they involve an unlikely player in the courtroom battle: an anonymous hacker.
The high-stakes federal trial, which ended in early August, was the first of its kind tied to Tesla’s Autopilot system.
The case centered on a tragic 2019 crash in Key Largo that killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo.
According to the families, the couple was standing outside their SUV on the roadside when a Tesla Model S, allegedly operating in Autopilot mode and driven by George McGee, plowed through a caution light and stop sign — striking them at more than 60 miles per hour.
The plaintiffs blamed Tesla’s Autopilot system for failing to prevent the crash. But their attorney, Todd Poses, says the courtroom battle was complicated by Tesla’s initial claim: that it could not locate the vehicle’s crash data.
That data, which included video footage of the moments leading up to the collision, was critical to the case.
Poses confirmed to Local 10 News that he hired an anonymous hacker to help recover the missing data.
Shortly after the hacker’s success, Tesla claimed it was now able to locate the same data on its own servers — a reversal that Poses remains skeptical of.
“It’s very easy for these companies to pay their way out of problems and bury them,” Poses said. “But it’s much harder when they have to face them — and face plaintiffs that are that strong-willed and determined to make sure they get it right.”
Poses said the families of the victims had been offered a significant settlement before trial — but turned it down in pursuit of justice.
“They turned down a fortune just to make sure that a jury could hear these facts,” he said. “That was their motivation all along. Very brave people to do that.”
Poses emphasized that the crash data uncovered by the hacker was pivotal in convincing the jury.
Tesla has already filed a motion to have the verdict thrown out.
The company maintains that the verdict could set back the development of what it describes as life-saving technology.
Local 10 reached out to Tesla for comment regarding the hacker’s role in the trial. The company has not yet responded.
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