Sunday , May 19 2024

Greyhound Found 'Not Negligent' in Deadly Crash

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After five weeks of testimony and deliberation, a Fresno jury has found Greyhound not negligent in a deadly crash in 2010. Six people were killed.<br /><br />Sylvia Garay, Stephanie Cordoba and Vanessa Gonzalez were in an overturned S-U-V that was struck by the bus on Highway 99.<br /><br />Their families said the women were killed in part because of mistakes made by the Greyhound bus driver.<br /><br />The families of Sylvia Garay, Vanessa Gonzales, and Stephanie Cordoba left the courtroom after the jury’s decision… which did not go in their favor.<br />An attorney for the Garay family said it was a case of David versus Goliath.<br /><br />&quot;Here we have a working class family in Dinuba and they’re taking on a multi-billion dollar corporation. And they had the courage to stand in court and do it,&quot; said attorney Jason Helsel.<br /><br />The families of the three women sued Greyhound for negligence, contending the bus driver was speeding and the bus’s brakes were not properly maintained the morning of July 22ND, 2010.<br /><br />The three women had been out celebrating a friends birthday when Garay’s SUV overturned on Highway 99 at McKinley. <br /><br />The bus struck the SUV, then a tree, killing the bus driver, two passengers, and the three women.<br />An attorney for greyhound praised the work of the jury.<br /><br />&quot;There are no winners in a case like this. Six people lost their lives. Including the Greyhound driver. No one walks out of here celebrating or happy that we even had to be here,&quot; said attorney Dana Fox, who represented Greyhound.<br /><br />The CHP conducted the investigation into the accident and determined that 18-year-old Sylvia Garay was responsible for the accident. And that she was drunk behind the wheel when her SUV overturned.<br />Attorney and legal analyst Charles Magill says the jury seemed to rely heavily on the findings of the CHP. <br />Magill says the CHP was conducting the investigation while they were being sued by Greyhound, which alleged the CHP was slow to respond to the crash.<br /><br />&quot;I think it put pressure on law enforcement to be less than objective, which is what we would expect from a CHP investigation,&quot; Magill said.<br /><br />The families were asking for millions from Greyhound. They could appeal the jury’s decision.<br /></div>

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