Ex-BP engineer convicted over Gulf oil spill wins new trial

Source: Associated Press

Ex-BP engineer convicted over Gulf oil spill wins new trial

Associated Press in New Orleans
theguardian.com, Friday 13 June 2014 13.05 BST

A new trial was ordered Thursday for a former BP engineer convicted of deleting text messages related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

US district judge Stanwood Duval threw out Kurt Mix's obstruction-of-justice conviction, saying that remarks a jury forewoman overheard outside of the courtroom influenced the verdict.

Prosecutors said Mix, of Katy, Texas, deliberately deleted text messages to and from a supervisor and a BP contractor to stymie a grand jury's investigation of the spill.

The defense had argued that the forewoman in the December trial told a then-deadlocked jury that she had heard statements affirming her view that Mix was guilty. She overheard on an elevator that people in addition to Mix were facing trial.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/13/bp-engineeer-new-trial-bp-spill