Eight people died and more than 200 were injured when Amtrak train No. 188 derailment on the Northeast Corridor in Philadelphia’s Port Richmond neighborhood in May 2015. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found the train was traveling at 102 mph on a curve with a 50-mph speed limit at the time it derailed. The investigation also found that the engineer, Brandon Bostian, had been distracted by radio chatter and was unable to slow the train down.
Bostian was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment but in 2017 a judge dismissed the case saying it was an accident, not a criminal act. In early 2018, the prosecutors appealed the decision and a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to go to trial. Attorneys have been preparing for the case ever since.
Earlier this year, there were some indications that a plea deal was in the works, but on Thursday attorneys for both sides said they would proceed to trial.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Bostian’s trial will begin on Sept. 23, 2019.
This article merely states he was distracted by radio chatter and leaves it at that. In reality thugs were throwing rocks and hit a SEPTA commuter train prior to the incident. The engineer was focused on the radio to find out where the rocks were coming from. This hardly sounds criminal to me except the thugs throwing the rocks.
How many years since the incident and the trial? There is no way justice will be served. For anyone. Memories are no longer clear, so o witness is reliable. There will be so much jockeying in getting a jury and challenges to the judges instructions that the facts of the case won’t really matter…
Mister Reid:
The reason why it has not been released is because it is being held as evidence. This is normal procedure in a criminal prosecution, and is done so as to not taint the jury pool or give rise to trial by media. It will enter the public record if an when there is a trial, and then we can all see it.
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.
It was a terrible accident but the engineer should not be held as a criminal. To error is human and we are all human.
Hmmm, The camera footage in and out of the cab has been presented as evidence so ehy has it not been released?
I see vengeance here, not justice. If being distracted is a crime, there but fortune go I. This is not to say that I condone what happened – I don’t. And certainly he should never be allowed to operate a train again. It is just that I fail to see the criminality.
“How many barrels will thy vengeance yield thee even if thou gettest it, Captain Ahab? it will not fetch thee much in our Nantucket market.”
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.
To what end?
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.