Trial to decide if railroad shares blame in movie crew death
By RUSS BYNUM, ASSOCIATED PRESS SAVANNAH, Ga. — Jul 8, 2017, 9:57 AM ET
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Attorneys for Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX insist the collision wasn't the company's fault. Investigators found CSX had twice denied the "Midnight Rider" filmmakers' requests for permission to shoot on its railroad trestle — each time in writing.
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Attorneys for Jones' parents argue Jones and other crew members weren't aware production managers had failed to get permission to shoot on the trestle. They also say the railroad should have known the filmmakers would be in the area. Two trains crossed the same railroad bridge in the hour before the fatal crash. The Jones family's lawyers say video from one train shows crew members on both sides of the tracks, in "close proximity."
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Court filings by CSX attorneys say operators of the two trains that passed the crew before the crash had no legal obligation to alert anyone else. The video shows filmmakers weren't on the tracks or the bridge, but stood on property that doesn't belong to the railroad. CSX says its operators had no duty to assume the crew would put itself in danger.
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An NTSB report on the crash said the probable cause was "the film crew's unauthorized entry onto the CSX Transportation right-of-way ... despite CSX Transportation's repeated denial of permission to access the railroad property."
New development. See GD:
Parents of 27-year-old woman killed while filming movie win $11.2-million judgment
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