Community Corner
Jury Finds Bus Driver in Crash That Killed 15 Not Guilty
The New York Times is reporting that the driver, returning to New York from Mohegan Sun in March of 2011 with a bus load of passengers, was found guilty on one misdemeanor charge.
The New York Times is reporting that a bus driver returning to New York from Mohegan Sun "accused of being so tired that he caused a crash that killed 15 passengers was found not guilty on all felony charges by a jury on Friday, underscoring the difficulty in prosecuting so-called drowsy driving cases."
According to the Times, in March of 2011 when driver Ophadell Williams' bus struck a guardrail on Interstate 95 near the Bronx-Westchester border, it flipped and "smashed into a signpost with enough force to shear off part of the roof."
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The crash, which the Times said was "one of the deadliest in the city’s history" not only killed 15 but seriously injured other passengers.
The Bronx State Supreme Court jury acquitted Williams on 53 of 54 charges including criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter, but the 41-year-old bus driver was found guilty of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor.
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