PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Latest on a deadly Amtrak crash in Philadelphia (all times local):
7 p.m.
Pennsylvania’s top prosecutor has charged a speeding Amtrak engineer with causing a catastrophe, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in a 2015 derailment that came after he accelerated to 106 mph in a 50 mph zone.
Prosecutors said Friday they have been in talks with engineer Brandon Bostian’s attorney to have him surrender and be arraigned on the charges. A judge says Bostian lives in Massachusetts. Bostian’s lawyer hasn’t returned messages seeking comment this week.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro has expanded on charges filed a day earlier by a Philadelphia judge asked to approve a private criminal complaint sought by the family of a woman killed in the May 12, 2015, crash. The judge ordered city prosecutors to charge Bostian with two misdemeanors.
Philadelphia prosecutors had earlier declined to charge Bostian, citing insufficient evidence. The crash killed eight people and injured about 200 others.
___
This item has been corrected to show the engineer’s surname is Bostian, not Bastian.
___
4:20 p.m.
A law professor says Pennsylvania’s attorney general has several choices in handling a judge’s order to charge the speeding Amtrak engineer involved in a deadly crash.
Temple University professor Jules Epstein says the office could arrest engineer Brandon Bostian, seek to dismiss the case, appeal or ask the judge to reconsider her ruling.
Epstein says state Attorney General Josh Shapiro could also negotiate a plea or take time to evaluate the case.
The judge’s unusual order came a day before Friday’s two-year deadline to file charges in the May 12, 2015, crash that killed eight.
The family of a New York woman who was killed sought the criminal complaint after city prosecutors declined to press charges.
Federal investigators believe Bostian lost “situational awareness” but wasn’t impaired or using a cellphone.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.