Musk Spared From Testifying — for Now — in Suit Over Fatal Autopilot Crash 

  • Judge says plaintiffs should seek written responses from Tesla
  • Case likely first to go to trial over an Autopilot crash

Elon Musk 

Photographer: Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg
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Elon Musk won’t have to testify — for now — in a lawsuit where Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot is blamed for a fatal crash that killed an Apple Inc. software engineer.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Evette Pennypacker granted Tesla’s request to shield Musk from being questioned at a hearing on Thursday. But the ruling is subject to the carmaker providing written responses to questions the lawyers for deceased driver’s family have about claims the company and its chief executive officer made about Autopilot, she said.