New trial ordered in fatal Fresno Greyhound crash

A Fresno judge has granted a new trial in the deadly Greyhound bus crash, ruling the bus driver was negligent for speeding on Highway 99 without his glasses.

In making his ruling, Judge Donald Black vacated a Fresno County Superior Court jury verdict in March that found Greyhound Lines Inc. was not at fault for the July 2010 early-morning collision in Fresno that killed six people.

The jury never explained its verdict, deliberating less then three hours before leaving the courtroom without talking to attorneys in the case.

But Black wrote: “The court finds the evidence does not support the verdict.”

He ruled bus driver James Jewett was negligent for driving in excess of the posted speed limit of 65 mph immediately before impact with an overturned SUV.

The July 22, 2010, crash killed the occupants of the SUV — Sylvia Garay, 18, of Dinuba, and Vanessa Gonzalez, 19, and Stephanie Cordoba, 20, both of Fresno. Also killed were Jewett and bus passengers Epifania Solis, 60, of Madera, and Tomas Ponce, 79, of Winton.

Black also ruled that Jewett was negligent for not wearing his glasses immediately before impact. Jewett was required to wear glasses to drive the Greyhound bus, court records say.

In addition, Black said Jewett was negligent for driving in the fast lane when the bus hit the SUV.

Greyhound can appeal Black’s ruling. Dana Alden Fox, a lawyer who represented the company, issued this statement: “Greyhound is extremely disappointed that after a jury heard five weeks of evidence, and decided by a vote of 10-2 in less than two hours that Greyhound was not negligent, that the court would disregard the jury’s hard work and its finding. Greyhound is now evaluating its options regarding an appeal of the court’s decision.”

But lawyers for the families said Black’s ruling is supported by the evidence.

“This is a great day for the civil justice system in Fresno,” Fresno attorney Stuart Chandler said. “Finally, the families got some justice.”

“This is the right result for all the right reasons,” said John Fowler, who represented the Garay family.

Both sides agreed that Jewett, a 32-year veteran of Greyhound with a clean driving record, was making a run from Los Angeles to Sacramento when he arrived in Fresno at 1:45 a.m. About the same time, Garay, Cordoba and Gonzalez were wrapping up a night celebrating a friend’s birthday. The crash happened shortly after 2 a.m. on the northbound fast lane of Highway 99 at the McKinley Avenue offramp.

After the Greyhound struck the overturned SUV, the bus continued on the highway for more than 400 feet before going down an embankment and plowing into a eucalyptus tree, court records say.

A CHP investigation blamed the deadly crash on Garay, saying she was drunk when she overturned the SUV near the McKinley Avenue offramp. The CHP also contended Jewett was wearing his glasses and did nothing wrong because he couldn’t see the dark undercarriage of the SUV.

Despite the CHP finding, Greyhound spent more than $3 million to settle with the two dozen injured bus passengers and with the families of Solis and Ponce. But the bus company never made an offer to the families of the three young women. So the families sued Greyhound.

During the trial in March, the families’ lawyers — Jason Helsel, Mark Vogt, Adam Benkoski, Fowler and Chandler — contended Jewett caused the deadly crash.

The crux of their case was that dozens of cars had missed the overturned SUV, so why couldn’t a professional bus driver do the same?

If Jewett had been wearing his glasses and paying attention, he would have seen that several motorists had pulled over and turned on their emergency flashers in an effort to help the three young women after the SUV overturned, the lawyers argued.

The families’ lawyers tried to discredit the CHP report, saying it was filled with speculation and lacked sufficient evidence to prove Garay was driving. They pointed out that several witnesses said Gonzalez, who had no alcohol in her body, was driving that night.

A video from Garay’s cellphone that was recovered at the crash scene also showed Gonzalez was driving hours before the crash, the families’ lawyers said.

Greyhound attorneys relied on the CHP investigation to win the case.

Black said in the ruling: “There is no question the (bus) driver was confronted with an unexpected object in the roadway.”

Jewett, however, “failed to take any action to avoid the SUV,” Black wrote. “It thus cannot be said that he took a course of action that in hindsight was not the better choice.”

A new trial date is not yet known. The ruling only affects the families of Garay and Gonzalez, Fowler said. That’s because Cordoba’s family accepted an offer from Greyhound to dismiss its appeal. In exchange, Cordoba’s family did not have to pay any of Greyhound’s court costs, which is more than $500,000.

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 11:17 AM with the headline "New trial ordered in fatal Fresno Greyhound crash."