WINAMAC, Ind. -- Pulaski Circuit Judge Harold Staffeldt, the small town judge who presided over the landmark Ford Pinto trial, died Sunday at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. He was 62.
The Star City native had been in failing health for several months and was hospitalized Aug. 12.
Staffeldt gained national attention in early 1980 when he presided over the 10-week Ford Motor Co. reckless homicide trial.
The giant automaker was acquitted March 13, 1980, of criminal charges brought by an Elkhart County grand jury. Ford was charged after three teenage girls died when their 1973 Pinto burst into flames when hit from behind by a van in northern Indiana in August 1978.
The case made legal history because it was the first time an automaker faced criminal rather than civil charges in deaths resulting from a car crash. The soft-spoken judge was criticized by lawyers and spectators during the trial for being too indecisive and lenient.
Funeral services will be Thursday in St. Luke's Lutheran Church.
Staffeldt is survived by his wife, Helen, two sons, a sister and brother.
