BP Rig Supervisors Must Face Manslaughter Charges For Deepwater Horizon Deaths, Judge Rules

[kristopher]

BP Rig Supervisors Must Face Manslaughter Charges For Deepwater Horizon Deaths, Judge Rules
BY EMILY ATKIN ON JANUARY 29, 2014 AT 11:46 AM


The Deepwater Horizon rig one day after it exploded April 21, 2010
CREDIT: HERBERT/AP

The two BP supervisors on board the Deepwater Horizon rig who made the last critical decisions before its tragic and historic explosion in 2010 won’t be able to easily escape involuntary manslaughter charges over the deaths of eleven fellow workers, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Monday, saying the case should be decided by a jury.

Donald J. Vidrine and Robert Kaluz had pled not guilty in 2012 to the charges in their 23-count indictment, which accuses them of mishandling an important safety test and failing to report abnormally high pressure readings that attorneys say were were obvious signs of an impending disaster. The blast, which blew out of BP’s Macondo well, immediately killed 11 workers and resulted in the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

The supervisors had tried to get the involuntary manslaughter charges dismissed from the case before it went to trial, but U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. was not convinced by their arguments.

“Provided that the government is able to prove that the defendants’ actions caused the blowout that caused the eleven deaths on the Deepwater Horizon, the facts as alleged are sufficient to conclude that an ordinary person would reasonably understand that the improper administration of the negative testing and actions surrounding such administration of the test in light of the inherent danger in deepwater drilling would subject one to criminal sanctions,” Judge Duval wrote.

Attempting to get the case dismissed...

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/29/3220691/deepwater-death-jury/

[Mnemosyne]

1. They should. nt

[dotymed]

2. It's a start.

These guys are guilty (IMO) but the main guilt is higher up the food chain. Faster, faster, more profits damn the consequences.
This IS the history of justice in America....have your scapegoats lined up.

[dinger130]

3. Again,

Fuck BP!

[L0oniX]

4. I'd call it negligent homicide ...and genocide of the animal nations.

[RoccoR5955]

5. Tar and feathers

would be more appropriate.

[kristopher]

6. Cheap chopped chicken feathers cut on an angle. nt

[brett_jv]

7. Hopefully they will implicate (and have proof against) some higher-ups who put $$$ over safety

I'd feel pretty certain asserting that what was going on there right before the disaster wasn't all brought about the decisions of the supervisors onboard.