Posted on 02/06/2018 1:52:33 PM PST by Publius
In a decision certain to reignite debate over one of the most consequential events in recent city history, a Philadelphia judge on Tuesday reinstated all criminal charges against the engineer in the fatal 2015 Amtrak derailment.
The decision by Common Pleas Court Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis once again clears the way for the case against Brandon Bostian to be put before a jury. Bostian’s prosecution has for years taken unusual twists and turns through the criminal justice system, even as millions of dollars have been awarded to victims who filed civil suits against Amtrak.
Bostian, 34, sat quietly next to his attorneys in court as Lewis announced her ruling. The charges against him had been in limbo since September, when a Municipal Court judge tossed them out and said the evidence suggested the derailment was an accident — not criminal.
But the state Attorney General’s Office appealed that decision, and Lewis — without offering further explanation — agreed Tuesday that the dismissal of those charges was wrong. Her ruling, delivered during a brief hearing at the Criminal Justice Center, instantly revived more than 200 counts of reckless endangerment, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, and one count of causing a catastrophe.
Bostian will remain free on bail. He and his attorneys, Brian McMonagle and Robert Goggin, declined to comment after the hearing Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
As it should be. An automobile driver exceeding the speed limit by that amount would be held responsible for injury/death he caused.
But the Liberals had decided that the train derailment was caused by lack of maintenance, which they blamed on Republicans.
At the time, Chris Mathews said that Republicans treat trains the way they treat Hispanics.
Their minds were made up, that Republicans hate train maintenance, so Paul Ryan and company were to blame.
Oh yeah, I remember this fag. I had to go to the FR archives to read the posts about the freak. I dont know why he should not get excited about going to jail when he’ll be treated like a “queen” by his fellow inmates..
This should apply to every single Obama voter. Just sayin'.
Doing a 35 mile rated curve at over 100 will cause a certain amount of ‘accidents’ over time.
Bwa ha ha ha...
(speeds listed as a concept, and not an attempt to address the actual precise speed here)
I think it is impossible that this guy was not an obvious problem before the ‘accident’. His colleagues and managers should also be charged.
Good decision.
Finally some common sense.
I always thought this was German Wings situation.
Still, them dropping charges twice & reinstating them doesn’t seem right.
Fixed it.
This has happened TWICE?
Something ain’t right. $@#$ or get off the pot. How can there be all this yo-yoing?
About time...
Protected class
Bad optics
Good. This case was clear negligence-caused carnage. Saying “I don’t remember” is just a typical criminal cop-out.
There was talk that he was suicidal over some queer lover’s quarrel, or that he was on a porn or dating app on his phone when he lost track of the train’s travel.
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