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8A – Daily News – Monday, April 12, 2010 In Toyota lawsuits, tests vanish under scrutiny MIAMI (AP) — Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn over and sometimes even ignoring court orders to produce key documents, an Associated Press investigation shows. In a review of lawsuits filed around the country involving a wide range of complaints — not just the sudden acceleration prob- lems that have led to mil- lions of Toyotas being recalled — the automaker has hidden the existence of tests that would be harmful to its legal position and claimed key material was difficult to get at its head- quarters in Japan. It has withheld potentially damag- ing documents and refused to release data stored elec- tronically in its vehicles. For example, in a Col- orado product liability law- suit filed by a man whose young daughter was killed in a 4Runner rollover crash, Toyota withheld documents about internal roof strength tests despite a federal judge’s order that such information be produced, according to court records. The attorneys for Jon Kury- lowicz now say such docu- ments might have changed the outcome of the case, which ended in a 2005 jury verdict for Toyota. ‘‘Mr. Kurylowicz went to trial without having been given all the relevant evi- dence and all the evidence the court ordered Toyota to produce,’’ attorney Stuart Ollanik wrote in a new fed- eral lawsuit accusing Toyota of fraud in the earlier case. ‘‘The Kurylowicz trial was not a fair trial.’’ In another case involving a Texas woman killed when her Toyota Land Cruiser lurched backward and pinned her against a garage wall, the Japanese automak- er told lawyers for the woman’s family it was unaware of any similar cases. Yet less than a year earlier, Toyota had settled a nearly identical lawsuit in the same state involving a Baptist minister who was severely injured after he said his Land Cruiser abruptly rolled backward over him. Under court discovery rules, Toyota had an obligation to inform the woman’s attor- neys about the case when formally asked. Poles grieve over president killed in crash WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s government moved swiftly Sunday to show that it was staying on course after the deaths of its president and dozens of political, military and reli- gious leaders, even as tens of thousands of Poles expressed their grief over the plane crash in Russia that shocked the country. New acting chiefs of the military were already in place and an interim director of the central bank was named Sunday, with work running as usual, said Pawel Gras, a government spokesman. It was a rare positive note on a day wracked by grief for the 96 dead and laced with reminders of Poland’s dark history with its power- ful neighbor. The Saturday crash occurred in thick fog near the Katyn forest, where Josef Stalin’s secret police in 1940 systematically execut- ed thousands of Polish mili- tary officers in the western WORLD BRIEFING Soviet Union. President Lech Kaczyns- ki and those aboard the aging Soviet-built plane had been headed there to honor the dead. A preliminary analysis showed the plane had been working fine, a Russian investigator said. Tens of thousands of Poles softly sang the nation- al anthem and tossed flow- ers at the hearse carrying the 60-year-old Kaczynski’s body Sunday to the presi- dential palace after it was returned from Russia’s Smolensk airport, the site of the crash. Obama: Al- Qaida would use nuke WASHINGTON (AP) — If al-Qaida acquired nuclear weapons it ‘‘would have no compunction at using them,’’ President Barack Obama said Sunday on the eve of a summit aimed at finding ways to secure the world’s nuclear stockpile. ‘‘The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon,’’ Obama said. ‘‘This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come.’’ ‘‘If there was ever a deto- nation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economi- cally, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating,’’ the presi- dent said. ‘‘We know that organiza- tions like al-Qaida are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruc- tion, and would have no compunction at using them,’’ Obama said. 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Coming Wednesday: 4D Barrel Races-Fairgrounds 5 PM Bullfighter Meet-n-Greet Cornerstone Bank 3 to 5 PM Cowboy Poetry Reading Red Bluff Library 7 PM The Job Training Center Tehama County’s resource for job seekers to access regional career opportunities and training information and for businesses to access hiring, human resource and training assistance. Looking to round-up a few good internships. Call us today at 529-7000. Have a great Round-Up! Le t e v e r y o n e k n o w ab o u t y o u r e v e n t OR Kn o w wh a t ’ s h a p p e n i n g Check out Tehama Beat @ www.redbluf fdailynews.com For Judge Of The Superior Court Office Two, 2010 Paid for by the committee to elect William Murphy WilliamMurphy4Judge.com Everyone’s Talking about it... TEHAMA BEAT world leaders in Washington this week is aimed at secur- ing ‘‘loose nuclear materi- al,’’ Obama said. He was holding one-on-one meet- ings Sunday with several of those leaders. Sen. Leahy expects next nominee to be in for fall term WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Sen- ate Judiciary Committee predicts that President Barack Obama will nomi- nate his next Supreme Court justice in time for hearings to wrap up this summer. Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont says he expects that Justice John Paul Stevens’ successor will be on the bench for the fall term that begins in October. Stevens says he will retire at the end of this year’s term. The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alaba- ma, isn’t ruling out a fili- buster to stop a nominee if Republicans believe extraor- dinary measures are war- ranted. Without Democratic support, Republicans cannot vote down Obama’s nomi- nee. The senators spoke Sun- day on NBC’s ‘‘Meet the Press.’’ Protests in Bangkok leave 21 dead BANGKOK (AP) — Both government and pro- testers mourned their dead Sunday after a night of sav- age street fighting that left 21 dead, but neither side appeared ready to compro- mise to end the political stalemate that has bedeviled Thailand for five years and threatens more violence. At least 874 others were injured when security forces tried to crack down Satur- day on demonstrators who have been staging a month of disruptive protests in the Thai capital, seeking to have Prime Minister Abhisit Vej- jajva dissolve Parliament and call new elections. It was the country’s worst political violence in nearly two decades. Bullet casings, pools of blood and shattered army vehicles littered the streets near a main tourist area where soldiers had pitched nighttime battles with the protesters. The fighting halted after the army pulled back its troops and initiated an infor- mal truce. However, there was no sign that either side was willing to negotiate the issues underlying the protests. Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the ‘‘Red Shirt’’ protest movement — which contends the current govern- ment is illegitimate because it does not reflect the results of the last elections — said Abhisit’s hands were ‘‘bloodied’’ by the clashes. Governments offer Greece euro30 billion BRUSSELS (AP) — Trying again to halt a debt crisis that has hammered the euro, fellow eurozone gov- ernments tossed struggling Greece a financial lifeline Sunday, saying they would make euro30 billion in loans available this year alone — if Athens asks for the money. The International Mone- tary Fund stands ready to chip in another euro10 bil- lion, said Olli Rehn, the EU monetary affairs chief. The promise — filling in details of a March 25 pledge of joint eurozone-IMF help — was another attempt to calm markets that have been selling off Greek bonds in recent days. Rio Skin & Body Works Spa Deana Owens and Kelsey Maeder Now Offering Welcomes One hour Massage and One hour Facial Package Only $ 99 Open: Monday-Saturday Call 527-7762 810 Rio Street, Red Bluff Gift Certificates Available expires: 4/30/10 PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT $6.00 Markets viewed the March pledge as too vague and carrying such tough restrictions that Greece could not easily get the money. As a result, investors demanded high rates to loan to the government as it struggles to avoid default — rates the government says it can’t go on paying. Greece has some euro54 billion in debt coming due this year and a huge budget deficit. In an emergency video conference, the finance min- isters of the 16-eurozone nations agreed on a complex three-year financing formu- la that generates an interest rate of ‘‘around 5 percent.’’ Barbour says Confederate History Month is no big deal NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The dustup over Vir- ginia’s proclamation for Confederate History Month seems like a lot of noise over something that ‘‘doesn’t amount to did- dly,’’ Mississippi’s gover- nor said in an interview aired Sunday. Virginia’s Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, apologized for leaving out of his proclamation any ref- erence to slavery. He added language to the decree call- ing slavery ‘‘evil and inhu- mane’’ after being criti- cized for reviving what many Virginians believe is an insensitive commemora- tion of its Confederate past. Fellow GOP Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said he doesn’t think the procla- mation was a mistake. ‘‘To me, it’s a sort of feeling that it’s a nit, that it is not significant, that it’s not a — it’s trying to make a big deal out of something (that) doesn’t amount to diddly,’’ Barbour said in the interview aired on CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union.’’ ‘‘I think it’s unfortu- nate that the governor is so insensitive to the atrocities made against African-Americans in this country by the for- mer Confederate States,’’ said Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP. Hair Cuts I fix Barber Shop New extended hours 8:30am - 6pm Mon-Fri 8am - Noon Saturday Oak Street Every 6th Hair Cut FREE 527-8111 • 335 Oak St. Next door to the State Theatre (Customer parking in Winchell’s parking lot.) Barber Shop $ Cheers 600 Senior Cuts Open 6 days 9-6 570-2304 259 S. 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