Mistrial Declared in Bus Driver's Wrongful Death Civil Trial

Margaret Embry

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In October, 2006, a school bus driver driving in West Hartford struck and killed a 65 year-old male drug counselor while he was in the crosswalk, as reported by School Transportation News in December of 2006. The bus driver was charged with negligent homicide and failure to exercise care to avoid a pedestrian and served five days in jail. The bus driver

later tested positive for cocaine, and it was discovered he had a previous conviction that the DMV failed to flag during a background check.

Last month the wrongful death civil trail against the former bus driver began, but a mistrial has been declared by the judge. A juror read information on the Internet against the defendant that had been excluded from the civil trial (there was no mention during the trial of the driver’s previous conviction or testing positive for cocaine around the time of the accident). A new trial has been ordered and jury selection will begin on December 1^st, according to The Hartford Courant.