CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

The attorney for a truck driver indicted in the deaths of a father and daughter killed by his runaway big rig in La Canada Flintridge said he felt confident that the jury would acquit his client if the case ever went to trial.

Steve Meister, a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney, said Monday he planned to challenge the grand jury indictment against Marcos Barbosa Costa and ensure that the L.A. County district attorney had complied with the rules and procedures necessary when presenting a case to a grand jury.

“The charge of murder in a car accident is ridiculous,” Meister said. “It’s overkill, excessive. It’s unreasonable. It was an accident. It wasn’t a crime. The D.A. has confused tragedy with a crime.”

Costa’s out-of-control truck hit several cars in La Canada Flintridge in April, killing Angel Posca and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina, and injuring several others. A county grand jury returned the murder indictment June 12, but it was unsealed June 19 after Costa was arraigned in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Bail was set at $2.09 million. Costa, 44, remains in custody.

-- Ann M. Simmons