Brandon Bostian Trial: Fate Of Former Amtrak Engineer Now In Hands Of Philadelphia Jury
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The fate of a former Amtrak engineer is now in the hands of a Philadelphia jury. Brandon Bostian is charged in the 2015 derailment in Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others.
The defense and prosecution presented closing statements Thursday at the Criminal Justice Center. Now, the jury is deliberating.
Guilty or not guilty?
The fate of Bostian is now in the hands of the jury.
"There were many families whose loved ones never came back," Tom Kline, an attorney for the derailment victims, said.
Kline represented 30 victims of the train derailment in the civil lawsuit, two of whom testified during the trial.
"Speed has always been what this case has been about," Kline said.
Prosecutors say Bostian was going more than 100 miles per hour around a sharp curve at Frankford Junction when his train flew off the tracks in May 2015, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 others.
On Thursday, the defense's star witness, an accident reconstruction expert, said he believes Bostian was distracted by radio chatter about people throwing rocks at a nearby SEPTA train.
"It strikes me that if he were situationally unaware, that his job was to be aware," Kline said.
Prosecutors tried bringing criminal charges against Bostian three times. The first two times, a judge threw the charges out, saying the tragedy was an accident, not a crime.
But the third time, Kline and his legal partners filed a private criminal complaint, which prompted the Pennsylvania attorney general to file charges.
"There were members of the victim community who felt very strongly, from many different people, that there should be at least some accountability," Kline said.
Bostian chose not to testify in his own defense.
