In opening arguments, senior deputy attorney general Christopher Phillips said Bostian had “one job … control the speed of the train.”
As his train entered an S-curve near Frankford Junction, its speed exceeded 100 mph when the limit was 50 mph, a federal investigation showed.
Failing to heed that limit, despite his ample experience and time to prepare before running that route, amounted to proof of a crime, argued Phillips.
More than a dozen witnesses for the prosecution testified to Bostian’s training and his actions that night. They also introduced transcripts of Bostian’s interviews with investigators, to show what he remembered of the events leading up to the derailment.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, those witnesses included: FBI special agent Brian Julien, Philadelphia police officer Eric McClendon; designated supervisor of locomotive engineers Keith Strobel, who trained Bostian for Amtrak; Amtrak Assistant Superintendent of Terminal Operations, Jonathan Hines; former Amtrak police detective Thomas McCormick; and Charles Gildersleeve.
Julien was involved in the federal investigation into Bostian, and walked the jury through two interviews the engineer gave, as well as his phone records from the night of the derailment.