Bus Driver Acquitted of Manslaughter in N.Y. Crash | TIME.com
15 Chinese passengers dead, 16 injured. No one's found guilty, not the driver and not the bus company.
The outcome would have been different if the passengers were white or black.
Bus Driver Acquitted of Manslaughter in N.Y. Crash
By Associated PressDec. 07, 2012
(NEW YORK) — A tour bus driver who prosecutors said was all but asleep at the wheel was acquitted Friday of manslaughter and negligent homicide in a crash last year that killed 15 gamblers on their way from a Connecticut casino to New York City.
Ophadell Williams was found guilty on one count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Williams wept and covered his face with his hands as the verdict was read. On the count which he was found guilty, the judge sentenced him to 30 days in prison, which he has served. He also was ordered to pay a fee of $500.
Williams argued throughout the trial that he had been awake and alert, and said the crash was not the result of reckless behavior or extreme exhaustion. He said a tractor-trailer cut him off, causing him to swerve and hit a guardrail. But investigators could find no indication that had occurred.
The victims were mostly Chinese men and women over the age of 40 who were regulars at casinos. About half died. The others were injured. Survivors missing limbs testified in court. Jurors also watched video from the scene of the accident and other wounded passengers who testified the bus was unsteady in the moments before it crashed.
Williams had been held in Rikers Island because his family couldn’t post $250,000 bail. He faced a maximum of 7½ years to 15 years in prison.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in June that the accident was probably caused by driver fatigue, and a bus company that provided too little safety oversight. It stopped short of saying Williams had fallen asleep. Federal regulators shut down the bus operator after the accident for safety violations. Williams had not turned in any driver’s logs while working for the company as required by federal safety regulations, yet World Wide took no action, federal investigators said.
But the bus company won’t face any criminal charges related to the crash, Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson has said.
15 Chinese passengers dead, 16 injured. No one's found guilty, not the driver and not the bus company.
The outcome would have been different if the passengers were white or black.
