{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0667","record_version":1,"title":"Florida appeal over $243M Tesla Autopilot crash verdict","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":47.0,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":3.52,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"de3d11f8a1473a3c9397a16ee482252cd57f47916291f9f885d7d8732228af90"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2019-04-25","date_disclosed":"2026-07-20","incident_class":"physical_safety","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A Tesla Model S with Autopilot engaged was involved in a fatal crash in Key Largo on April 25, 2019. The driver, George McGee, dropped his phone and bent down to retrieve it, and the car ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at roughly 62 mph before striking a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. Naibel Benavides Leon was killed and Dillon Angulo was severely injured. In August 2025 a Miami federal jury found Tesla 33% liable and assessed punitive damages against Tesla. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the judgment on February 20. In July 2026 the Florida Attorney General and other states asked the 11th Circuit to overturn the verdict or reduce the punitive award, and the case remains pending.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"severe","severity_because":"Safety of life test met: the quoted sentence records a death, Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed.","harm_class":["bodily"],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":"irreversible","downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://electrek.co/2026/07/20/florida-ag-tesla-243m-autopilot-verdict/","publisher":"Electrek","date":"2026-07-20","type":"press","title":"Florida AG asks court to erase Tesla’s $243M Autopilot crash verdict - Electrek","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"event.date_occurred":"C","event.incident_class":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","impact.reversibility":"C","context.industry":"C","context.country":"C","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The crash happened on April 25, 2019, in Key Largo."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The car ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at roughly 62 mph and struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, was severely injured."}],"impact.reversibility":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"George McGee was driving a 2019 Model S with Autopilot engaged when he dropped his phone and bent down to retrieve it."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the judgment on February 20, ruling that the trial evidence “more than supported” what the jury found and that Tesla had raised no new arguments."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"George McGee was driving a 2019 Model S with Autopilot engaged when he dropped his phone and bent down to retrieve it."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The car ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at roughly 62 mph and struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, was severely injured."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The verdict they’re targeting came in August 2025, when a Miami federal jury found Tesla 33% liable in the fatal Autopilot crash — roughly $43 million of about $129 million in compensatory damages, plus $200 million in punitive damages assessed against Tesla alone."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the judgment on February 20, ruling that the trial evidence “more than supported” what the jury found and that Tesla had raised no new arguments."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The attorneys general of Alabama and Georgia joined the July 9 brief, which asks the 11th Circuit to throw out the judgment entirely — or, failing that, cut the $200 million punitive award down to three times compensatory damages."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"Single source: an Electrek press article on a Florida attorney general's appeal brief. The sources do not state the Autopilot software version, the developer of Autopilot (Tesla is named only as the defendant), whether an autonomous agent was involved, the autonomy level, the deployment context, the trigger or root cause beyond the driver's distraction, how the crash was detected, the containment or remediation, or the controls that held or failed. The $243 million verdict is a court judgment, not a stated direct loss, so no loss figure is recorded. The number of affected parties is not stated as a count, so none is recorded. Severity is set to severe on the safety-of-life test because a death is stated. Reversibility is set to irreversible by judgment from the stated death. The record treats Autopilot as the system, although it is a driver-assistance feature. Date of disclosure is not stated in the sources and is left out. The July 20 publication date is not used as an event date. Reader comments and the opinion sections are not used as facts. The country is set from the stated U.S. federal court. The industry is set from the stated automobile context. No remediation was stated, so the remediations list is empty. The 2026 year for the February 20 ruling is taken from the article date and is not stated in the quoted sentence. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":"automotive","org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"The driver had Autopilot engaged while he dropped his phone and bent down to retrieve it.","quote":"George McGee was driving a 2019 Model S with Autopilot engaged when he dropped his phone and bent down to retrieve it.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The car ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at roughly 62 mph and struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe.","quote":"The car ran a stop sign and a flashing red light at roughly 62 mph and struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"Florida is asking the federal appeals court to wipe out the $243 million verdict.","quote":"Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is asking a federal appeals court to wipe out the $243 million verdict a Miami jury handed Tesla over a fatal Autopilot crash.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://electrek.co/2026/07/20/florida-ag-tesla-243m-autopilot-verdict/"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Miami federal jury found Tesla 33% liable and assessed punitive damages.","quote":"The verdict they’re targeting came in August 2025, when a Miami federal jury found Tesla 33% liable in the fatal Autopilot crash — roughly $43 million of about $129 million in compensatory damages, plus $200 million in punitive damages assessed against Tesla alone.","source_index":0,"when":"August 2025"},{"text":"Trial judge sanctioned Tesla for willful and deliberate violations after crash data was recovered.","quote":"In October 2025, the trial judge sanctioned Tesla for “willful” and “deliberate” violations after an independent researcher recovered crash data that Tesla had told the plaintiffs did not exist.","source_index":0,"when":"October 2025"},{"text":"U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the judgment.","quote":"U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom upheld the judgment on February 20, ruling that the trial evidence “more than supported” what the jury found and that Tesla had raised no new arguments.","source_index":0,"when":"February 20"}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://electrek.co/2026/07/20/florida-ag-tesla-243m-autopilot-verdict/"]}}