38-year-old Brandon Bostian was cleared of charges related to a deadly derailment that left eight people dead and hundreds injured in 2015.
of causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment after a little more than an hour of deliberations.
Federal safety investigators concluded that Bostian lost what they call"situational awareness" on the track, thinking he was past an S-curve and on a straightaway when he accelerated from about 65 mph to 106 mph. In fact, he was in the middle of the S-curve, and going more than twice the speed limit. Investigators found no evidence he was impaired or using his cellphone at the time.
The jury had begun weighing the charges Friday morning when the judge announced around noon that an alternate would step in. The jury then began its deliberations from the start.