Deadlocked Jury in Ford Case Is Told to Resume Deliberating

A California judge Tuesday asked a jury to keep deliberating in a multibillion-dollar class-action suit against Ford Motor Co. after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Michael Ballachey sent the jury back for further deliberations after the foreman told him the panel was deadlocked and wanted to be dismissed.

“It is your duty to try and reach a verdict,” Ballachey said, noting that retrying the case before a fresh jury would be both expensive and time-consuming.

The suit, one of the largest ever lodged against a U.S. auto maker and representing about 3 million California plaintiffs, accuses Ford of putting faulty ignition modules in 1.7 million cars and trucks, model years 1983 through 1995, that could cause the vehicles to stall.

If found guilty on all counts, Ford could be forced to pay damages estimated at between $3 billion and $4 billion.

On Nov. 4, the jury split 6-6 on the question of whether Ford had violated the California Consumers Legal Reform Act by representing its products as possessing characteristics they did not have.

On Tuesday, after a week’s vacation, the panel said it was deadlocked 8-4 on whether Ford violated the act by misrepresenting the quality of its products.