Ford wins reversal in suit over SUV

Ford Motor Co. won reversal of a $60-million jury verdict awarded to the parents of a 17-year-old boy who was killed during the rollover of a 1996 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle.

The parents of Lance Hall claimed design defects in the Explorer left it unstable. A Miami jury in November 2005 awarded them $61 million, later reduced by $1 million by the trial court.

A Florida appeals court erased the rest of the award, ordering a new trial. The trial judge improperly allowed Hall attorneys to present evidence of deaths and injuries in dissimilar Explorer rollovers, the appeals panel said.