Judge declares mistrial in widower's case

A Fulton County judge has declared a mistrial in a case brought by a man whose wife died in a 2003 taxi cab accident on I-85.

State Court Judge Susan Edlein did not immediately set a new trial date for Ed Heller, who is suing former Atlanta taxi cab inspector Greg Shepard and United Express Cab Co. Heller's wife, 51-year-old hospital consultant Patricia Heller, died instantly when her taxi struck a tree on the slick roadway on her way downtown from the airport.

The tires on the cab, which passed a city inspection the day before the fatal crash, were found by police to be bald. Earlier this week, the Georgia Department of Transportation, a once a defendant in the case, apologized to Heller and his two children and agreed to pay a $600,000 settlement.