Trucker's lawyer claims racism in fatal runaway crash case

From wire service reports
Daily Breeze
Posted:11/23/2010 07:12:11 AM PST
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - A man charged with murder in an April 2009 runaway truck crash on the Angeles Crest (2) Highway that killed two people says he is being unfairly singled out for prosecution by public agencies that hope to limit potential civil liability, it was reported today.

Marcos Barbosa Costa, 45, has been behind bars in lieu of $600,000 bail since June 2009, when a grand jury indicted him on two counts of murder and other charges, the Glendale News-Press reported today.

Killed in the crash on April 1, 2009 were Angel Posca and his 12-year- old daughter, Angelina. Several others were injured.

The crash occurred where the steep mountain road terminates at Foothill Boulevard in La Canada Flintridge.

Costa faces life in prison if he is convicted of the charges he faces.

His court-appointed private investigator on Friday provided the News- Press with a draft copy of a motion to dismiss the murder and manslaughter charges, alleging the truck driver "was singled out for the crime of murder and/or voluntary manslaughter to excuse State of California and it's (sic) Department of Transportation from millions of dollars in civil suits filed against them."

The draft motion also alleges Costa, a native of Brazil who speaks limited English and relies on a Portuguese translator during court proceedings, "has been singled out because he is Hispanic and is not a citizen of California and the United States of America," the News-Press reported today.

Yanette Posca, whose husband and daughter were killed in the April 1 crash, and other surviving family members have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against California, the state Department of Transportation, Los Angeles County and the city of La Canada Flintridge, as well as Costa, the trucking company that employed him, and global satellite positioning system device makers Garmin International, according to the News-Press.

Posca, who previously referred questions about the lawsuit to Orange County attorney Christopher Aiken, could not be reached for comment by the News- Press. Aiken did not return calls from the News-Press requesting comment.

Costa appeared Friday at a pre-trial hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Pasadena to begin the process of transferring case documents to the Men's Central Jail, the News-Press reported.