Costa convicted of involuntary manslaughter

The truck driver involved in the fatal 2009 collision off the Angeles Crest Highway was convicted today of two counts of vehicular manslaughter, but the jury found him not guilty of the more serious murder charges.

Marcos Costa, whose big rig slammed into Palmdale resident Angel Posca, 58, and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina, after his truck lost its brakes, sending the car-hauler through the intersection at Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge and into a bookstore.

Several other cars were hit, and the jury also convicted Costa on three counts of reckless driving causing an injury.

Prosecutors had argued that Costa acted with willful disregard for human life as he proceeded down steep mountainous pass, and ignored warnings about his truck’s brakes.

Costa’s defense had portrayed the crash an accident that the Brazil native had sought to avoid.