$200,000 for a human life and the $67,000 for personal injury that Ford had originally projected in their cost analysis. As a direct result of these judgments Time ran a story titled "Ford's $128.5 Million Headache".2 In May of 1978 NHSTA notified ford that there had been an initial determination of a safety related defect in the pinto. After that Ford, pressured by the civil lawsuits and the media attention, issued a recall of all 1971-1976 Pintos and all 1975-1976 Bobcats, denying any wrongdoing.2 Ford tried to get the recall out as fast as they could, but they did not do it fast enough.On August 10, 1978 while driving on U.S. highway 33 in northern Indiana in their 1973 Ford Pinto tragedy occurred. Judy, Lyn, and Donna Ulrich were hit in the rear by a van and the Pinto burst into flames. Two of the girls were trapped inside the inferno and killed quickly. Judy, the driver, was thrown out of the car but received third degree burns over 95 percent of her body, she died eight hours later.1 After the Ulrich's horrible accident, Mike Cosentino, Elkhart County Indiana's States Attorney, decided to file criminal charges of reckless homicide against Ford powered by the information that ford had endangered the victims not inadvertently but intentionally. At the indictment, both Ford officials and Cosentino gave their arguments for and against the indictment. The grand jury agreed with Consentino that Ford had acted with moral irresponsibility and came back unanimously with indictments against Ford Motor Company for three counts of reckless homicide. 2 This was the first time a corporation had ever been indicted on criminal charges.Although a guilty verdict on the three charges of reckless homicide would only bring a $30,000 fine, Ford had much more at stake. A guilty verdict would hurt ford in many ways; it could encourage attorneys elsewhere to file criminal charges against Ford, it would erode consumer confidence in Ford, and woul...
