The Muni operator who faces a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge for running over a 23-year-old woman with his bus in a Castro District crosswalk last summer made a brief court appearance this morning on a procedural matter, and in a hallway interview afterward his attorney said that his client shouldn’t be blamed.

The real culprit, if there were one, said defense attorney Stuart Hanlon, was inadequate supervision at Muni that allowed his client, Wallace Loggins, to drive a 40-foot bus along unfamiliar streets.

“He was was doing everything right, but he was lost,” Hanlon said. “Central Control sent him on a street he didn’t know. I just think it’s an awful accident.”

Loggins was sent to a new assignment without proper direction from Central Control, Hanlon said. Loggins, who had been driving with Muni for eight months, was taken off his regular route and told to take his bus to the Castro to drive a special bus shuttle to augment the overcrowded F-line rail line on Aug. 18.

To get there, he drove from the Financial District toward the Castro and ended up making a left turn from 18th Street onto Hartford Street, a narrow residential street without regular bus service. It was during that turn that he struck and killed Emily Dunn.

She was walking in the crosswalk at the time and had the right of way, but she was looking down and texting right before she reached the curb and never saw the bus coming, Hanlon said. Loggins reportedly was glancing in his side-view mirror when he hit Dunn.

Surveillance cameras on the bus recorded the incident.

The District Attorney’s Office said the driver was negligent for not seeing the pedestrian. If convicted, Loggins faces up to a year in county jail. A trial date has not been set. Loggins has pleaded not guilty.

It is highly unusual for Muni operators involved in on-the-job fatalities to be prosecuted. But Loggins’ case is just one traffic death for which District Attorney George Gascon has brought charges.

“The District Attorney’s Office does not relish having to prosecute people for these incidents.” Gascon said. “All of these tragic incidents could have been avoided and we can do better as a city to avoid these tragic consequences.”

Loggins was removed from bus-driving duties immediately after the accident and is now receiving workers’ compensation for a disability claim, he said.

The San Francisco Municpal Transportation Agency, which operates the city’s transit system, has been sued by Dunn’s parents. Muni spokesman Paul Rose said he would not comment on Hanlon’s assertions due to the pending litigation. Earlier, transit operations chief John Hanley said it is incumbent on the operators to ask for directions if they don’t know how to get somewhere.

Loggins said little today, but did have a message for Dunn’s family on his way out of the Hall of Justice. “Can you let them know I’m sorry?”