Construction
Accidents

Premises
Liability

Motor Vehicle
Accidents

Amtrak conductor to be charged with manslaughter for 2015 crash

On Behalf of | May 12, 2017 | Motor Vehicle Accidents

A judge with the Philadelphia Municipal Court sent down orders to prosecutors on Thursday, May 11, requiring that they file criminal charges against a former Amtrak engineer. It’s widely believed that the speed at which he was operating the train on May 12, 2015, was responsible for the train’s derailment. The accident killed eight and and injured nearly 200.

The May 11th order was made just one day before the statute of limitations window for filing charges in the case was set to close. The district attorney with the city now must file both reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter charges against the former train conductor.

Just days before the judge’s ruling, the prosecutors in the case had informed the judge that they would not be pursuing criminal charges against the man. They highlighted how they believed they would have difficulty in showing that the engineer consciously disregarded the safety of passengers by accelerating the train from 50 to 106 mph at a dangerous curve in the tracks.

Coincidentally, Philadelphia’s sitting district attorney who rendered that decision is currently awaiting his own trail on suspicion of federal bribery charges.

After hearing of their decision, victims’ families and their attorneys announced that they would collectively be seeking to file a grievance against the prosecutor’s office for what they alleged was a decision made in poor taste. If the prosecution neglects to move forward in trying the case, the matter could be appealed to a Superior Court judge next.

Federal investigators had originally determined that the conductor had merely lost sight of where he was, including that he was coming into a dangerous turn, at the time the derailment occurred. It’s believed that he had been distracted by news that another train before him had been damaged by a rock.

If charges are ultimately upheld and the former train engineer is convicted of the charges waged against him, then could face as much as a five year sentence for each misdemeanor count alone.

Drivers of public buses, conductors of trains, and pilots of planes all share the responsibility of keeping their passengers safe. If you suspect that a loved one’s injuries or death was caused by another’s reckless driving or some other type of negligence, a New York motor vehicle accident attorney can advise you of your rights as it relates to pursuing a civil lawsuit against them.

Source: ABC News, “Judge orders prosecutors to charge Amtrak engineer in crash,” Maryland’s Dale, May 11, 2017

Archives

Verdicts &
Settlements

$3.75 Million

settlement for a construction worker injured by falling metal mesh

Verdicts & Settlements

$3.5 Million

Million for a carpenter injured on a construction site by a falling metal clamp

Verdicts & Settlements

$3 Million

for a 35 year old Carpenter injured when his arm became partially impaled on an improperly exposed metal support (rebar) at a construction site.

Verdicts & Settlements

$2 Million

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries after being struck by a hit and run driver in Manhattan.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.825 Million

Verdict for a 29 year old construction worker injured during the building of the World Trade Center Memorial.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.475 Million

for a Carpenter who was injured when the scaffold he was working upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete worker from Queens who sustained serious injuries to his back when he slipped on debris and refuse.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a Construction worker and young father in the Bronx who was fatally electrocuted while on a scaffold.

Verdicts & Settlements

$950,000

for two sisters in high school who sustained serious injuries when struck by a vehicle that mounted the sidewalk in Brooklyn as they waited for the bus to take them to school.

Verdicts & Settlements

$825,000

for a woman injured as a passenger in an accident involving a bus and a car in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$777,000

for an Ironworker on Long Island who sustained serious injuries when he fell from a ladder which slid out from under him due to icy footing.

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a surgeon who sustained a broken knee in a motor vehicle accident (January, 2017).

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a man severely burned in his apartment by excessively hot shower water (Sept. 2020).

Verdicts & Settlements

$660,000

verdict for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete laborer who was injured when the scaffold he was walking upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a cement and concrete worker who slipped and fell over construction debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker who injured his back as a result of slipping upon a discarded pipe and falling down a flight of steps.

Verdicts & Settlements

$500,000

for a Nursing Home resident injured due to lack of proper care.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries to her shoulder as a result of a trip and fall upon a defective sidewalk at a construction project in Manhattan.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

verdict in the exact amount demanded by our office for our client, but refused by the responsible defendants, was awarded by the jury to our client who sustained a fractured elbow as a result of a fall upon a badly broken sidewalk.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a young woman who sustained a fractured ankle as a result of a fall on soapy steps in her apartment building in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$495,000

for a young mother who was struck by a car while crossing the street near her home in Queens sustaining serious injuries to her leg requiring the surgical placement of a metal plate and screws.

Verdicts & Settlements

$600,000

for a woman who sustained multiple injuries as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident.

Verdicts & Settlements

$425,000

was secured by our office for a Cement and Concrete worker injured when a work area collapsed beneath him.

Verdicts & Settlements

$400,000

for a woman struck from behind by a car as she walked to a supermarket in a shopping center parking lot in Yonkers.

Verdicts & Settlements

$200,000

for a young man, 15 years of age, who sustained a partial tear of the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, which has now healed without any limitation upon his activities.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a school principal in the Bronx who tripped and fell over a construction plate in the school parking lot.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a young Cement and Concrete worker who was struck by falling debris dislodged from a building by a swinging crane.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker injured as a result of a fall at a Manhattan construction site.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a school teacher in the Bronx who sustained an injury to her shoulder when she tripped and fell due to negligently placed computer wiring.

Verdicts & Settlements

$275,000

to a Construction laborer doing bridge work whose arm was fractured when falling construction material caused him to fall into the East River and onto debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

for a child injured when a table fell on him in a laundromat in Queens.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

verdict for a Volunteer Firefighter in Westchester who sustained injuries in the course of fighting a fire.

Verdicts & Settlements

10 Best Attorney 2017-2023 Client Satisfaction American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys
NTL Top 100 Member Seal
Super-lawyers-Howard-r-sanders2022
New York Magazine
Howard R. Sanders Esq. BBB Business Review
FindLaw Network