Jury deliberations have begun in the $1 billion lawsuit filed against Bridgestone/Firestone by the family of a wheelchair-bound woman injured in a Ford Explorer rollover. The Rodriguez family's attorney compared the tire manufacturer to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Firestone's attorney blamed the tire tread's separation on the Ford Explorer.

The Rodriguez accident occurred nearly six months before Firestone issued a massive recall of 6.5 million 15-inch Wilderness AT, ATX and ATX II tires made at the company's plant in Decatur, Illinois. The tires involved in the Rodriguez's accident were manufactured at the maligned facility.