If you want to know how the law operates in Philadelphia, you need to know that the unions have complete control of the system, to include not only prosecutors, but judges, who in Pennsylvania are elected by the people.
Bostian, as a member of a very strong union, was a member of a protected class. There was no chance that the DA would prosecute, which is why the DA's office dragged it out until the statute of limitations was about to expire. Note that the judge intervened at the behest of Richard Sprague, who 40 years ago was the archenemy of Philadelphia's criminal class. His name means a lot in Philly law and politics -- which are inseparable. The bar is set very high for the top judge of the court to intervene and order the DA's office to do its duty.
Also note that the DA is handing the case over to the state, whose prosecutors and judges are not in thrall to the unions. The DA's career would be over if he handled the case himself. If he won, the unions would exact revenge at the next election, and if he lost he would be investigated for tanking the case. He did the smart thing, which was to wash his hands of the case and hand it to the state.
FWIW, which ain’t much since I’m not a lawyer, I’m wondering how much discovery had to do with the PTB wanting this case to go away.
Thanks for pointing me to the two posts.
This sound quite rational.
The handing off of the case to another jurisdiction was reasoned and important.
I like what I see taking place here.
The judge hasn’t ruled the guy guilty. The judge is merely demanding the man face charges. He can still be judged to be innocent of wrong-doing. It would be a travesty of justice IMO, if he never even had to answer for his actions in light of people dying.
Is there a cost to criminal negligence?
Seems to me there should be. You should at the very least have to sweat it in court.