Union, Family Wait for Verdict as Pena Case Goes to the Jury

It’s all up to 12 New Yorkers, men and women who have mostly likely taken countless rides on MTA buses and subways. It’s their task now to decide the guilt or innocence of Domonic Whilby, whose actions while driving an 18-ton truck caused the death of Bus Operator William Pena three years ago.

Was Whilby so drunk on alcohol and high on marijuana that he lacked the ability to know what he was doing when he stole the truck and slammed it into the M14 bus, as the defense contends? Or was he a man with a high tolerance for alcohol, who made dozens of conscious, rational decisions as he piloted the stolen truck, injuring four men and killing one -- revealing him to be utterly unconcerned for anyone’s life but his own?

Jurors are now considering Whilby’s guilt or innocence on 17 counts ranging from depraved indifference murder to grand larceny. Listening to the closing statements in the courtroom were 50 union members and friends of William Pena’s family, including TWU Local 100 VP for MABSTOA Richard Davis, Division Chair Donald Yates, and American Airlines workers represented by TWU Local 501. Family attorney Sanford Rubenstein joined Davis and Pena’s widow, Nancy, in a press conference outside the courthouse as deliberations began.