Tesla Asked For A Reset On $243M Verdict, A Federal Judge Said No

Tesla has grown accustomed to defending its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) systems in court, often walking away with a win or a settlement. That’s what made a $243 million verdict against it regarding a fatal accident involving Autopilot such huge news last year. The automaker appealed that decision, and now a federal judge has upheld the jury’s findings.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami rejected Tesla’s request to toss out or reduce the jury’s August 2025 decision. According to Reuters, she wrote that the evidence presented at trial “more than supports” the verdict and that the company failed to introduce any new arguments justifying a reversal.

More: US Investigates 2.9 Million Teslas Over Self-Driving Crashes

We covered the trial last year, including the part where the driver of the Tesla admitted fault. He said that he’d dropped his phone in the floorboard and was searching for it when the car drove off of the road and struck another car, killing one and injuring another. He later testified that he believed the system would brake automatically if something was in front of the car.

How The Jury Split Responsibility

A federal jury found Tesla 33% responsible for the crash. Jurors awarded $19.5 million in compensatory damages to one victim’s family and $23.1 million to the other victim, along with $200 million in punitive damages to be split between them. The driver had previously settled with the plaintiffs.

Tesla argued that the driver alone was to blame, maintaining that automakers “do not insure the world against harms caused by reckless drivers.” The company also said punitive damages should be zero, claiming it did not act with “reckless disregard for human life” under Florida law.

First Federal Autopilot Verdict

The ruling marked the first time a federal jury ruled on a fatal crash involving Tesla’s Autopilot system. Again, Tesla typically wins or, at worst, settles cases like this before a verdict. And this is all happening as the automaker gears up to launch fully autonomous cars around the world, or at least says it will soon. Austin, Texas, already has driverless Teslas operating on public roads.

That said, expect this case to continue. Tesla will almost undoubtedly appeal to the Eleventh Circuit, which oversees Florida. While it can’t retry the facts of the case, it has several legal courses to go down, from arguing that the judge made the wrong legal decision to questioning if the damages went beyond what Florida law legally allows for.