Brett Schreiber, Partner at Singleton Schreiber, was recently featured in Law.com in an article titled “$200 Million in Punitive Damages: Miami Jurors Hit Tesla." Benavides v. Tesla marked a pivotal legal moment as a Florida jury awarded $329 million in damages—the first third-party wrongful death trial involving Tesla’s Autopilot system. Lead plaintiff attorney Brett Schreiber stated the verdict delivers justice and holds Tesla accountable for promoting self-driving technology at the expense of safety. Tesla, however, plans to appeal, arguing the crash was solely the fault of the distracted driver, who was speeding and searching for a dropped phone, overriding Autopilot.
The case stemmed from a 2019 crash in Key Largo that killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. The jury found Tesla 33% liable, citing its failure to restrict Autopilot use to controlled-access highways, despite public claims by Elon Musk that it drove better than humans.
The three-week trial featured strong arguments from both sides. Tesla’s defense emphasized that no vehicle—Autopilot-equipped or not—could have prevented the crash, framing it as a “driver issue, not a car issue.” Meanwhile, the plaintiffs’ legal team praised the jury’s attentiveness and moral clarity in reaching their decision.
