Plaintiff Robert Scheuer is either the victim of a heartless General Motors cover-up of faulty ignition switches or a man trying to blame GM for injuries he suffered long before his 2014 car crash in Oklahoma, attorneys argued Tuesday.

These competing portrayals were unveiled in Southern District Judge Jesse Furman‘s courtroom during opening arguments in the first of six bellwether trials that are expected to set the value, if any, for more than 300 cases consolidated in Manhattan.