CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Dec. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted Lakisha Ward-Green's Petition for Allowance of Appeal. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's action authorizes Ms. Ward-Green to appeal the Superior Court's opinion reversing Judge Philip Anthony Ignelzi's decision to overturn her involuntary manslaughter and reckless driver conviction.

On September 3, 2010 Ms. Ward-Green was driving Robert Chambers home from school in her 2007 Chevy Cobalt when the ignition switch suddenly went into the accessory position, causing her to lose power steering and braking.  The vehicle left the Pittsburgh roadway and slammed into a pole, instantly killing 16-year-old Robert Chambers. As a consequence of the defective ignition switch, the airbags in the Cobalt did not deploy.

In August of 2015 Ms. Ward-Green's attorney Bob Hilliard, a Texas lawyer and one of the nation's key players in the pursuit of claims against GM, argued that the 2007 Cobalt's defective ignition switch caused Ms. Ward-Green to lose control of her vehicle, and the failure of the airbags to deploy in a violent head-on collision caused the death of Robert Chambers. Judge Philip Anthony Ignelzi agreed and granted Hilliard's request to overturn her involuntary manslaughter and reckless driver conviction.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will now decide important procedural questions concerning the role of expert analysis of the facts underlying petitions for post-conviction and the deference afforded to Courts of Commons Pleas' determinations of the timeliness of such a petition.

Hilliard states, "Why in the world the prosecutor determined to appeal, given the clear facts and the admitted culpability of GM is head-scratching-and mean-spirited. Mr. Chambers and Ms. Ward-Green are two more victims of GM's decades-long deception regarding its defective ignition switches. Judge Ignelzi heard the evidence and expert testimony about GM's deceit, evidence and testimony that for the first time in her case was able to draw a direct line between the defective ignition switch and the accident and resulting fatality. Judge Ignelzi correctly concluded that Ms. Ward-Green should be allowed to withdraw her guilty plea. I am grateful that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided to allow Ms. Ward-Green to appeal the Superior Court's reversal, and I look forward to fully presenting Ms. Ward-Green's appeal to the honorable members of Pennsylvania's high court."

ABOUT HMG  http://www.hmglawfirm.com/
Hilliard Muñoz Gonzales LLP (HMG) specializes in mass torts, personal injury, product liability, commercial and business litigation, and wrongful death. Hilliard Muñoz Gonzales LLP has been successfully representing clients in the United States and Mexico since 1986. Bob Hilliard obtained the Largest Verdict in the country in 2012 and the #1 verdict in Texas in 2013.

HMG is actively seeking to represent other victims of GM'S defective vehicles.
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SOURCE Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP