Tennis star Venus Williams has won an emergency court order in the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family the man who died in a collision earlier this month.
Florida 15th Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe temporarily granted Williams’ attorney’s request to stop the download of data from the vehicle that hit the seven-time Grand Slam winner, according to the Sun-Sentinal. A hearing on the matter, which Williams is not expected to attend, is scheduled for Friday, July 7, the day Williams is playing at Wimbledon in a third-round match against Naomi Osaka.
In the accident on June 9, Linda Barson’s 2016 Hyundai Accent hit the right side of Williams’ 2010 Toyota Sequoia, resulting in injuries to the driver and her husband, Jerome Barson, who died two weeks later after suffering from head trauma. Authorities did not cite Williams and the investigation is still ongoing.
The Barson estate’s lawyer, Michael Steinger, planned on downloading data from the Hyundai, which could provide information about the speed of the vehicle at the time of the accident. A data download of the Toyota could provide the same information for Williams’ vehicle, which is being stored at a West Palm Beach, Fla., tow yard along with the Hyundai.
Attorney Kevin Yombor, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, argued data could be lost due to a failed download. Yombor requested Rowe grant a joint inspection on both vehicles by experts for Williams and Barson’s estate.
“The onboard data of both vehicles will be critical evidence,” Yombor wrote. “The actions taken by Plaintiff should not occur until … a procedure is in place to ensure that the data of each vehicle is properly collected.”
