Judge overseeing federal lawsuits against Toyota orders automaker to give documents to lawyers

Judge: Toyota must give documents to plaintiffs

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The judge presiding over hundreds of federal lawsuits against Toyota has ordered the automaker to give internal documents to lawyers suing the company over sudden acceleration problems.

U.S. District Judge James Selna on Friday said Toyota Motor Corp. has one month to provide the documents that it previously gave to congressional investigators.

Toyota objected, but Selna said the documents are necessary because of the complexity of the case.

About 230 federal lawsuits have been filed against the Japanese automaker since it began recalling millions of vehicles because of acceleration problems in several models and brake glitches with the Prius hybrid.

Some of the lawsuits involve personal injury and wrongful death claims. Others allege that the recalls caused the value of Toyota vehicles to plummet.