Oct 3, 2006 5:02 pm US/Central
Split Verdict In Bus Owner's Trial
McALLEN (AP) ―
The owner of the bus that exploded and killed 23 people during the Hurricane Rita evacuation was acquitted of the most serious safety violation charge he faced Tuesday but convicted on two lesser counts.
James Maples was found not guilty of conspiring to falsify logs but convicted of poorly maintaining his fleet and not requiring drivers to fill out vehicle inspection reports. His company, Global Limo Inc., was found guilty on all charges.
None of the charges was directly related to the September 2005 bus wreck, which was only vaguely mentioned in testimony. The conspiracy charge is the most serious and carried a prison sentence of up to five years and $750,000 in fines.
Sentencing was set for Dec. 14.
The verdict came after six hours of deliberations over two days. Maples hugged his wife and daughter, smiling as he left the federal courts building but declined to comment.
"It was what we were hoping for as far as beating the conspiracy count," defense attorney Charles Banker said. "He basically confessed to the other counts."
The trial stemmed from a federal investigation into a Global Limo bus that exploded during a Hurricane Rita evacuation, killing 23 elderly nursing home residents who were too frail to escape.
The jury of eight women and four men had been asked to decide whether Maples conspired to fake driver time records aimed at assuring proper rest and failed to properly maintain his buses or require bus drivers to complete post-trip inspection reports.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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