Verdict Reached In Manslaughter Trial Of Bus Driver Ophadell Williams
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A jury reached a verdict Thursday in the trial against a bus driver charged in the deaths of 15 passengers last year.
The verdict for Ophadell Williams, however, will not be read until Friday morning.
Williams was driving a tour bus from a Connecticut casino to Chinatown on March 12, 2011, when his bus veered off I-95 in the Bronx, and slammed into a signpost.
In addition to the fatalities, 18 other people were injured.
Williams said a tractor-trailer cut him off.
The prosecution, however, claimed Williams was speeding and sleep-deprived.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in June that the accident was probably caused by driver fatigue and a bus company that provided too little safety oversight.
It stopped short of saying Williams had fallen asleep.
Williams has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide If convicted, he could get up to 15 years in prison.
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