Hearing delayed for driver in fatal Delaware bus crash

 (John Jankowski/for NewsWorks)

(John Jankowski/for NewsWorks)

A court commissioner has rescheduled a preliminary hearing for the driver of a tour bus that crashed in Delaware, killing two passengers and injuring dozens of others.

 

The commissioner postponed the hearing after 56-year-old Jinli Zhao of Flushing, New York, who speaks little English, appeared in court Wednesday without a lawyer and was unable to answer simple questions.

 

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A prosecutor said he had spoken by phone with a New York lawyer who intends to represent Zhao, but the lawyer has not filed papers to appear in Delaware. Through a friend acting as an interpreter, Zhao asked for a month’s delay and was granted a Nov. 5 hearing date.

Zhao was charged with two counts of operating a vehicle causing the death of another person after the Sept. 21 crash.

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