Guidroz-Brault

Passengers who suffered injuries in a train wreck appeal the summary judgment that terminated their action. The first question is whether the trial court erred in deciding that defendant National Passenger Railroad Corporation (commonly known as “Amtrak”) was not negligent, as a matter of law, because the criminal act of sabotage in creating a defect in the rail was an unforeseeable intervening, superseding act, and the sole cause of the train wreck. The second question is whether the court abused its discretion in excluding the affidavits of plaintiffs’ experts, without which the plaintiffs had no proof of negligence on the part of Amtrak. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

At approximately 1:23 a.m. MST on October, 9, 1995, an Amtrak passenger train derailed in the Arizona desert, near Milepost 846.86, on a track then owned and maintained by Southern Pacific Transportation Company.

It is undisputed that the derailment was the result of a purposeful act of sabotage by one or more unknown persons. Physical evidence at the scene indicated that unknown individuals had deliberately removed the bolts and spikes holding the south rail in place. Two angle bars that hold the…