An appeals court in Illinois has ruled that a man killed by a train while he crossed the tracks can be held responsible for a bystander’s injury. The court ruled that the deceased man can be held responsible for one of his limbs striking and injuring a bystander at a Chicago Metra station.
Hiroyuki Joho, 18, was rushing in the pouring rain with an umbrella covering his head to catch a Metra train back in 2008 when he was struck and killed by an Amtrak train that was traveling higher than 70 mph at the time.
There are some witnesses who say Joho was smiling when the train hit him. The southbound platform is where a large portion of his body landed, which is 100 feet from where he was hit. A piece of his body hit Gayane Zokhrabov. The impact caused Zokhrabov to be knocked to the ground, breaking her leg and wrist and injuring her shoulder.
An appellate court overruled a judge from Cook County, who said that Joho could not anticipate the injuries of Zokhrabov. Leslie Rosen handled the appeal for Zokhrabov, who said the following:
“If you do something as stupid as this guy did, you have to be responsible for what comes from it,” she said.