Jurors have adjourned for the night after saying they are having difficulty reaching a unanimous verdict in the trial of a former BP engineer charged with trying to obstruct a probe of the company’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a note that U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. read aloud in […]
BP Supervisors Challenge Manslaughter Charges
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two BP rig supervisors charged in the deaths of 11 workers in the Deepwater Horizon disaster claim the manslaughter counts in their indictment must be dismissed because they don’t apply to conduct on a foreign-owned vessel operating outside U.S. territory. Court filings Thursday by Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine’s attorneys also […]
Judge Tosses Ex-BP Executive’s Obstruction Charge
A federal judge on Monday dismissed one of the two counts in the indictment of a former BP executive who was charged with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking from the company’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt cited two reasons […]
Judge Delays Ex-BP Engineer’s Trial
A federal judge in an order Friday agreed to postpone the trial of a former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company’s response to its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The judge also had some stern words for attorneys on both sides. Kurt Mix’s trial was scheduled to start […]
Ex-BP Engineer Claims Feds Withheld Evidence
A former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company’s response to its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico claims that Justice Department prosecutors withheld evidence and should be sanctioned. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. didn’t immediately rule Tuesday on whether sanctions are warranted after one of Kurt Mix’s lawyers […]
BP Manager Testifies at Trial Over Gulf Oil Spill
A BP team leader who supervised managers on the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 testified Monday that he was frustrated by last-minute changes to the drilling project, but didn’t have any safety concerns before the deadly blast. John Guide was BP’s wells team leader for the Deepwater Horizon project […]
Ex-BP Engineer Responds to Feds’ ‘Farcical’ Claims
A former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company’s response to its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico says federal prosecutors have tacked on “farcical” allegations that he also deleted dozens of voicemails. A court filing Wednesday by Kurt Mix’s defense attorneys asks a judge to bar prosecutors from making […]
BP Executive: Safety was Top Priority Before Blast
A BP executive who oversaw the company’s Gulf of Mexico operations testified Tuesday that he he led a push to improve safety when he started the job more than two years before an April 2010 rig explosion killed 11 workers and led to the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. Neil Shaw, a witness for BP […]
BP’s Cement Contractor Denies Destroying Evidence
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP’s cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 said Tuesday that its recent discovery of missing cement samples was the result of a “simple misunderstanding,” not an attempt to withhold crucial evidence. In a court filing, Halliburton attorneys accused BP PLC of trying […]
BP Seeks Sanctions Over Missing Cement Samples
BP asked a federal judge Thursday to sanction its cement contractor on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling project, accusing the company of withholding critical evidence that could have been used at the ongoing trial over the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. In a late-night court filing, BP PLC lawyers cited Halliburton’s alleged destruction of cement […]