PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A jury has found a former Amtrak engineer whose train derailed in Northeast Philadelphia in 2015 not guilty of a crime for his role in the deadly accident.
LISTEN below: KYW Newsradio's Pat Loeb has full coverage as Bostian walks out of court a free man.
Brandon Bostian was engineering the train when the crash happened in the Frankford Curve. The crash killed eight people and injured more than 200.
Bostian was acquitted on charges of causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment in the derailment.
His defense attorney argued he was distracted by radio traffic about trespassers on the rails throwing rocks at trains, and he momentarily lost track of where he was and accelerated when he should have slowed down for the Frankford curve.
Deliberations had to start over after about three hours of initial deliberations. Judge Barbara McDermott announced that one of the jurors had to be dismissed because his sister died Thursday night. Although he said he’d tried to weigh the case, he told a clerk he did not have the ability to continue.
The judge called in an alternate, and the jury restarted.
Amtrak settled the civil litigation with victims and their families for $265 million, a higher limit set by Congress after the crash.
“There is no question that the excessive speed of the train that the defendant operated resulted in death and injury to his passengers," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro after the verdict came.
"Our goal throughout this long legal process was to seek justice for each and every victim, and help bring victims’ families and their loved ones closure. Ultimately, the jury did not find his actions to be criminal, and we respect the jury’s verdict.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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