How Chandler Parker Connects Missed Tire Inspection to Fatal Blowout in Wrongful Death Case

Javascript is required to watch this video

If you have enabled JavaScript and still cannot play the video, please contact support.

At trial against a tire seller for the death of a truck driver following a blowout, Chandler Parker’s opening skillfully spotlights the missed inspection he argues was a key to the fatal wreck.

Stephen Jackson died when the cement mixer he was driving crashed in 2014. Jackson’s family claims that the crash was caused when a worn-out tire failed, due to a missed inspection. Canyon, for its part, argued  the tire was safe but an object on the road caused the blow-out. 

During openings of the 2018 trial, Parker, of Ivie McNeil & Wyatt, representing Jackson’s family, walked jurors through Canyon Tire’s agreement to inspect the tires to ensure they were safe. The technician designated to check the tires every two weeks, Parker said, considered the inspections crucial. “Even if he was sick, he would come out and do the inspections,” Parker said. “He found it that important. He knew he had to be out there, and he was expected to be there no matter what was going on.”

Parker then showed jurors a calendar in which the inspection dates were highlighted. Generally, he said, the technician checked the tires right on schedule. Parker moves through the calendar’s months until he gets to May, the month of the accident. 

“The last inspection that was performed on this truck was on the 12th (of May),” Parker said. “They were set and expected to complete [an] inspection on that Sunday, May 26, but they were a no-show.

“And then just three days later, the tire blows.” 

Parker acknowledged the 26th fell on Memorial Day weekend, a point raised by the defense. However, he said an invoice showed the company’s representatives were at the location that weekend, Saturday the 25th, but failed to check the tires. 

“Nor did they return on that Monday, or that Tuesday, or that Wednesday, to make up that missed inspection.”

Parker’s opening drew a direct line between the missed inspection and the crash. And it preceded a mid-trial settlement in the case. 



Suggest a Trial

Want to see a trial that you don't see in our list of upcoming trials?

Suggest a Case

CVN Essentials

The most important and informative moments of each trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

Unlimited access to thousands of hours of past coverage of high stakes civil litigation

Video Library

  • Follow Us
  • Contact Us
  • 4901 Olde Towne Parkway
  • Suite 100
  • Marietta, GA 30068
  • 877-834-8627
  • 404-935-0321

Copyright 2024 Courtroom Connect.