Driver in fatal Toyota crash is freed from prison - Will be no retrial

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-fi-toyota-20100805,0,3251303.story

Koua Fong Lee, whose case was reopened in light of Toyota's sudden-acceleration problems, won't be retried. He said he was braking before the 2006 crash in Minnesota that left three dead.

Associated Press

11:13 p.m. CDT, August 5, 2010

Reporting from St. Paul, Minn. —

A man who spent more than 2 1/2 years in prison for a fatal Toyota crash walked free Thursday after his case was reopened and a prosecutor chose not to retry him following the automaker's widely publicized sudden-acceleration problems.

Koua Fong Lee, 32, jumped up and hugged his lawyer after Ramsey County District Judge Joanne Smith said she had seen enough new evidence to warrant a retrial. Soon after, County Atty. Susan Gaertner said there wouldn't be one.

"I think it's time to bring this very sad situation to a close," Gaertner said.