Grand jury decides against indicting driver in bus fire

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3461234

DALLAS - A grand jury declined to indict the driver of the charter bus that burst into flames and killed 23 Bellaire nursing home residents as they fled Hurricane Rita, Dallas County prosecutors said Monday.

The Dallas County Sheriff's Department had referred 23 counts of negligent homicide against Juan Robles Gutierrez, one for each death, to the district attorney, who presented them to the grand jury.

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"I believe there is video showing my client getting on and off the bus helping people escape," Shaffer said. "He remembers going back and helping with three or four before it came to a point where the (oxygen) tanks began exploding and he could do no more."

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Shaffer, who declined to say what his client has told federal investigators in the sealed proceedings in Houston, said Robles was only a driver and was not responsible for servicing the buses or operating the company. Once Robles' cooperation in the federal investigation is fulfilled, he plans to return home to Mexico, Shaffer said.

It was outrageous to try to blame the driver for the bus's poor maintenance.