Crime & Safety

Updated: Angeles Crest Truck Driver Accused of Murder Posts Bail

Marcos Costa's attorney seeks to show that county and state officials ignored dangers of ACH before the fatal April 2009 wreck.

Jailed just shy of two years, truck driver and longtime pastor Marcos Costa appeared in court Thursday as a man out on bail, rather than an inmate in an orange jumpsuit.

Costa, 45, has posted $340,000 bail, which defense attorney Edward Murphy said his client’s family pulled together. Costa has been in jail since June 2009, two months after his truck careened out of control and killed a Palmdale man and his daughter in La Cañada Flintridge.

Pending trial, Costa is living in a home for pastors associated with Cavalry Assembly of God Church in Orange County. Church Pastor Paulo Rosa, who’s known Costa for 20 years and attended Thursday’s hearing, said Costa spends his days volunteering: he leads prayer meetings and counsels troubled teens. And because Costa has many years experience with multimedia production, he is also helping the church produce its TV ministry.

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“When the accident happened, he told me he wished he’d been the one to pass away,’’ Rosa said, adding that Costa is deeply sad about Angel Posca and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina, who died April 1, 2009 when Costa’s truck barreled down Angeles Crest Highway, and struck their car at Foothill Boulevard. Several other people were injured before Costa’s big rig rammed into

Costa and his wife, , live in a blue collar community outside Boston, with most family members living in their native country, Brazil. Marcos went to truck driving school to earn extra money, Murphy said.

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Originally charged with manslaughter in April 2009, Costa was indicted for murder by the grand jury a month later, and sent to Los Angeles County Jail.  Costa’s former attorney, Steve Meister, won dismissal of that indictment, but the district attorney appealed the ruling. The appellate court reversed the trial court and reinstated the murder charges. In addition to murder, Costa is charged with vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving.

Costa and Meister parted ways in October, and Costa, who is not a native English speaker, represented himself for three months. Murphy, a veteran criminal attorney with a private practice took over Costa’s defense last month after the court appointed him to do so.

Court records show that Costa had been the passenger in the big rig for most of the route along the Angeles Forest Highway that fateful April day. Another driver, Jose Soares, was behind the wheel when off duty firefighter Juan Palomino flagged down the rig to pull over. Palomino told the driver and Costa that the truck’s brakes were smoking and that they were approaching a steep downhill grade that ended in a bustling, commercial area. According to court documents, Meister pointed out Palomino never instructed the men to turn around.

In previous proceedings, Meister has argued that “a reasonable person would have no objective basis for avoiding Angeles Crest Highway. Where was the warning about the terrible things that could happen if Costa took Angeles Crest Highway? There was none,’’ transcripts show.

And it is this question about a lack of warnings, and a lack of safety precautions for runaway trucks on Angeles Crest Highway – which now offers runaway truck ramps – that Murphy would like to introduce to the court. It was only after Costa’s accident that the state forbade trucks with three axles to ascend or descend the steep grade.

“The city and county and state were warned of dangerous conditions well before this accident,’’ Murphy said, noting other trucks have lost control on Angeles Crest Highway, one even barreled through the Foothill Boulevard intersection adjacent to Hill Street Café. Murphy plans to introduce such evidence at hearings that will be held prior to the start of trial. The judge will then decide if that evidence is admissible.

Even La Cañada Flintridge City Manager Mark Alexander wrote letters to state authorities, prior to Costa’s accident, saying that something needed to be done about ACH, Murphy said. In an email Thursday, Alexander wrote that because the is one of several defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by the Posca family, he cannot comment on matters related to the accident.

Other defendants in the civil litigation include the California Department of transportation, Los Angeles County, the trucking company Costa worked for and Garmin International, maker of the GPS system that suggested the ACH route the truckers took.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 19th, with the trial potentially starting 10 days from then.

“I’m looking forward to a jury acquitting this man,’’ Murphy said. “I’ve got more character witnesses than I’m even allowed to call. This is a pastor who’s never been in trouble a day in his life. He’s not a murderer.’’


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