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Paul Walker's daughter $10m settlement from Drivers Estate

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Paul Walker's teen daughter got $10.1M settlement from estate of driver in fatal 2013 crash

Paul Walker's teen daughter received a $10.1 million settlement from the estate of the man who piloted the Porsche in the actor's deadly 2013 crash, a court filing that surfaced Thursday confirmed.

The estate of Roger Rodas agreed to pay the sum back in November 2014, but the court paperwork went undetected for months because it was filed under an abbreviated name "” Meadow W.

Meadow Walker was 15 years old when her 40-year-old dad, famous for his role in "The Fast and the Furious" series, died in the fiery crash along with Rodas in Santa Clarita, Calif. on Nov. 30, 2013.

The settlement unearthed Thursday revealed Meadow was to receive $7.26 million in a trust after paying close to $2.9 million in fees.

Rodas was driving Walker in the doomed Porsche Carrera GT near a charity event when he lost control and hit a light pole and a tree.

"There is no clear evidence that Roger Rodas was directing the car through any particular unsafe maneuvers when the car went out of control. Nevertheless, he is responsible, in part, for the accident," an attachment to the settlement agreement filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court said.

"In addition to economic loss caused by her father's death, Meadow Walker's claim is also for the loss of his love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support and his training and guidance," the paperwork first reported by City News Service said.

The settlement was paid, at least in part, by Insurance connected to Rodas and his company, Always Evolving, the filing stated.

On Monday, an unrelated judge struck down a similar lawsuit filed by Rodas' widow against Porsche in federal court.

The federal judge said there was not enough evidence to prove Kristine Rodas' claim that vehicle defects caused her husband's death.

A lawyer for Meadow said the federal court rejection wouldn't affect Meadow's still-pending action against Porsche in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

After Meadow struck the deal, she filed a separate wrongful death action against Porsche in California court.

"The issues in the cases are very different," Meadow's lawyer Jeff Milam said in a statement Tuesday.

"Meadow's father, Paul Walker, was a passenger in the car. He survived the crash but was trapped and burned to death because of the vehicle's defects."
 

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Judge rules Porsche not at fault for driver Roger Rodas' death in fatal Paul Walker crash

A judge has tossed a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the man who perished with Paul Walker in 2013.

Roger Rodas' widow's claims that the fatal car wreck was caused by defects in the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT her husband was driving were not supported by any concrete evidence, U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez ruled in papers obtained Tuesday by the Daily News.

"Plaintiff has provided no competent evidence that Rodas' death occurred as a result of any wrongdoing on the part of Defendant," Gutierrez wrote.

Kristine Rodas had alleged in her May 2014 lawsuit against Porsche that her husband lost control of the car due to shoddy suspension and side impact protection, and that the vehicle had exploded on impact because it lacked a proper crash cage and fuel cell.

But Rodas' cause of death wasn't related to fire, Gutierrez wrote. The autopsy report obtained by The News in 2014 indicated that Rodas had suffered burns, but ultimately died from blunt trauma to his head, neck and chest.

The judge also pointed out the force that killed Rodas was from front impact with the utility pole, not side impact.

A lawyer for Kristine Rodas called the judge's ruling "wrongheaded" in a statement to The News.

"We are obviously disappointed, but we are confident the decision will be reversed," he said.

Porsche had previously blamed Rodas for the crash, which occurred Nov. 30, 2013, after Rodas lost control of the vehicle, crashing it into trees and a utility pole.

Rodas, Walker's buddy and business associate, 'chose to conduct himself in a manner so as to expose himself and others to such perils, dangers and risks," Porsche attorneys alleged.

'He chose to conduct himself in a manner so as to expose himself to such perils, dangers and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle," said the filing obtained by The News.

"Today's ruling by a federal judge in favor of Porsche Cars North America against Rodas has no effect on Meadow Walker's lawsuit that is pending against Porsche AG, Porsche Cars North America, and Beverly Hills Porsche in Los Angeles Superior Court," Jeff Milam, an attorney for Meadow Walker, said in a statement. "The issues in the cases are very different.

"Meadow will continue the fight to hold Porsche accountable for selling a defective product that kills."

The actor's father, Paul Walker Sr., also filed a negligence and wrongful death suit in November
 

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ragpicker said:
The lawyers are going to bleed all that Trust money out of her using the emotion of her fathers death as the knife....

 

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