Truck driver found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter
By Tyler Hammel 14 hrs ago



Emergency personnel work at the scene of a train crash involving a garbage truck in Crozet, Va., on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. An Amtrak passenger train carrying dozens of GOP lawmakers to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck south of Charlottesville, Va. No lawmakers were believed injured, but it at least one person in the truck was said to be seriously injured.

ZACH WAJSGRAS/THE (CHARLOTTESVILLE) DAILY PROGRESS

After more than five hours of deliberation Wednesday, a jury found a trash truck driver not guilty in a fatal 2018 train crash.

Dana Naylor Jr., 31, initially was charged with involuntary manslaughter and maiming while under the influence after authorities said he drove a Time Disposal garbage truck onto train tracks on Jan. 31, 2018, and was struck by a chartered Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress. The collision killed Chris Foley and severely injured Dennis Eddy. Both men were passengers in the trash truck.

The DUI maiming charge was dropped Wednesday morning after being rendered moot by a judicial ruling Tuesday that certain scientific testimony and blood evidence was inadmissible.

Following the verdict, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci said the judge’s decision to exclude evidence and testimony made it difficult for the prosecution to maintain the DUI charge. ... It’s difficult to use toxicological evidence alone to establish impairment for various substances, he said, including Xanax and, in some cases, alcohol. ... Though he clarified this was an important case to bring to the community, Tracci said he hoped for a remedy from state legislators on THC impairment.
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Tyler Hammel is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact him at (434) 978-7268, thammel@dailyprogress.com or @TylerHammelVA on Twitter.

Drug evidence, testimony tossed from fatal train crash trial
By Tyler Hammel Feb 26, 2019

Crucial drug-related evidence and testimony will be excluded from the trial of a trash truck driver charged in a deadly 2018 train crash. ... In Albemarle Circuit Court on Tuesday, Judge Cheryl Higgins granted a defense motion to exclude expert testimony and evidence that the commonwealth argued would prove Dana Naylor Jr. was impaired by THC at the time of the crash.

Naylor is charged with involuntary manslaughter and maiming under the influence after authorities said he drove a Time Disposal trash truck onto the tracks in Crozet, colliding with a chartered Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress, killing Christopher Foley and gravely injuring Dennis Eddy.

However, the argument for the DUI charge has been thrown into uncertainty after Higgins ruled to exclude testimony from Dr. Jayne Thatcher, a forensic toxicology expert.

Outside the presence of the jury, Higgins listened to testimony from Thatcher about levels of THC — tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active ingredient in marijuana — found in Naylor’s blood and whether that could be used to prove impairment.
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Tyler Hammel is a reporter for The Daily Progress. Contact him at (434) 978-7268, thammel@dailyprogress.com or @TylerHammelVA on Twitter.