Jury reaches verdict in 2015 Philadelphia Amtrak crash case

A Philadelphia jury found an Amrtrak train engineer not guilty on all counts following a 2015 derailment that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, according to multiple reports.

Brandon Bostian, 38, was acquitted on the charges of causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, Fox 29 reported. 

The jury weighed the charges against Bostian on Thursday after a weeklong trial. The group resumed deliberations on Friday after a juror had a family emergency and was replaced with an alternate, according to the local outlet. 

News of the verdict comes after eight people died and more than 200 sustained injuries from the 2015 crash on the New York City-bound train from Washington, D.C., according to NBC 10. 

After the event, federal investigators determined that Bostian was going well over the speed limit on an S-curve, and had lost “situational awareness” on the track. However, they found no evidence that Bostian was impaired or using his cellphone at the time. 

Lawyers for Bostian argued during the trial that the engineer was a train buff and had an exemplary record until he had gotten distracted by people throwing rocks at trains. 

Prosecutors, however, said that he acted with disregard for the safety of the train’s passengers, according to NBC 10. 

In 2016, Amtrak paid $265 million to settle claims made by those injured and their families. 

Following the crash, Fox 29 reported that Amtrak installed speed controls on all its tracks that go from Boston to Washington, D.C.