INDIANAPOLIS, IN : Sentence upheld for driver convicted of deadly church bus crash on Monday, February 13th 2017

The driver convicted in a deadly church bus crash lost his appeal Monday.

The judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals rejected Charles Goodman's arguments and affirmed his conviction and sentence.

Goodman was driving a bus full of passengers from Gary to a church conference in Dayton, Ohio. On I-70, just east of Indianapolis, the bus swerved off the road, hit a tree and flipped. Six-year-old Jacob Williams died and several other passengers were injured in the crash.

Jurors found Goodman guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death and driving with a suspended license. He was sentenced to six years in prison with three of the years suspended.

In his appeal, Goodman argued that jurors should not have been allowed to see a photograph of Williams' body and that his sentences was too harsh for the crime.

The Appeals Court judges said that prosecutors did not need to use the picture to make their case, but that allowing jurors to see it did not rise to the level of a reversible error.

In their seven-page opinion, the judge ruled that Goodman's sentence was appropriate in light of the offenses and his character.

"As to his character, Goodman failed to take responsibility for his crimes, claiming others must have planted the cocaine in food or medicine he previously consumed and blaming the accident on mechanical issues with the bus," they wrote.

Goodman told investigators he feel asleep at the wheel. At his trial, prosecutors say tests showed Goodman had been using cocaine the day of the crash. Also, Goodman did not have a valid driver's license at the time of the crash.

Source :
Sentence upheld for driver convicted of deadly church bus crash