John Tomaszewski
/ file photo
SYRACUSE -- Judge Anthony Aloi says he will deliver his verdict in the Megabus trial Tuesday morning.
John Tomaszewski is facing four counts of criminally negligent homicide for the September, 2010, crash that killed four people and injured dozens of others.
Monday morning, Judge Aloi heard testimony from the prosecution's final witness, Detective Valerie Brogan. Brogan spoke with Tomaszewski at St. Joseph's Hospital following the crash.
Brogan read the statement Tomaszewski gave her at the hospital. In it, the driver said, "I had a GPS, and it was telling me to take a right hand turn," and, "I was driving along waiting to turn when the bus hit the bridge."
Tomaszewski's lawyer, Eric Jeschke, did not call any witnesses, even though he had previously considered putting Tomaszewski on the stand.
After court adjourned, Jeschke said there was no reason to put Tomaszewski on the stand because he would have just repeated what other witnesses had said.
In his closing statement, Jeshke told Judge Aloi that Tomaszewski wasn't reckless. He was lost, and he did not see the signs because there was a glare, and it was dark out. He also said the accident was inevitable because the New York State Department of Transportation and CSX didn't do more to prevent it.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarski argued Tomaszewski should be found guilty because he "failed to perceive the risk he faced" and his behavior was a "gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe."
Bednarski said Tomaszewski missed the 13 signs warning him about the bridge. He also said the driver was using a GPS and didn't follow his company's protocol of pulling over and calling 911 when he was lost.
"We expect more out of a professional driver," says Bednarski.
As he left the courtroom, Tomaszewski told us he had no comment today.
