Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 5
U.S. NEWS A5
Saturday 6 June 2015
Ex-BP exec David Rainey not guilty of lying in oil spill
KEVIN McGILL was tainted by a jury fore- Defense attorneys Reid Weingarten, right, and Michael Magner talk to reporters outside Federal
Associated Press woman’s remark — to an
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Fri- apparently deadlocked Court in New Orleans after former BP executive David Rainey was found not guilty of making
day’s acquittal of a former panel — about something
high-ranking BP executive she had heard outside the false statements to investigators in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Friday, June
charged with lying to in- courtroom.
vestigators looking into the The appeals court decision 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Rebecca Santana)
2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the Mix case is pending.
marked the latest setback As for Rainey, he had been ronmental crimes section, on the inability of anyone, was demanded by politi-
for federal prosecutors pur- tasked, in the days after said in an email. in the early days of the spill, cians and the press. And
suing criminal charges in the Deepwater Horizon “In its case against David to figure out how much he reluctantly took up the
the disaster. explosion, with calculating Rainey, the Justice De- oil was flowing. And, they cudgel and came up with
A federal jury took about the amount of oil gushing partment also faced a sig- argued, an estimate was his best response.”
two hours to find David into the gulf. nificant evidentiary hurdle, largely irrelevant because BP declined comment Fri-
Rainey not guilty of mak- Prosecutors said he manip- which is that no one knows an all-out effort was being day. Rainey, whose de-
ing false statements. Days ulated his calculations to how much oil gushed into made to cap the well, re- fense was paid for by his
before,U.S. District Judge match a far-too-low gov- the Gulf of Mexico during gardless of how much was former employer, smiled
Kurt Engelhardt had tossed ernment estimate of the the Gulf oil spill,” Uhlmann spewing. but declined to talk to re-
out a related charge that flow rate. He was charged added. “It was a fool’s errand,” de- porters as he walked briskly
Rainey obstructed a con- with lying about having Indeed, Rainey’s attorneys fense lawyer Reid Weingar- out of the courtroom to
gressional investigation of done so during an inter- built much of their defense ten said of Rainey’s task. “It hug family members.q
the spill. Engelhardt told view with federal investiga-
jurors before discharg- tors almost a year later.
ing them Friday that he “We respect the jury’s
agreed with their verdict. verdict,” said Leo Tsao, a
Rainey’s acquittal came prosecutor with a federal
days after prosecutors Deepwater Horizon task
asked a federal appeals force. Environmental law-
court to reinstate the con- yer David Uhlmann said the
viction of a former BP engi- government faced tough
neer, Kurt Mix. odds in the oil spill case.
Mix, in 2013, had been ac- “Today’s verdict demon-
quitted on one criminal strates how difficult it is
count but convicted on a to prosecute individuals
charge that he knowingly when the primary culprit
deleted text messages is a corporate culture run
about the spill. However, amok,” Uhlmann, a Univer-
that victory for prosecu- sity of Michigan law profes-
tors was tossed out by a sor and former chief of the
judge who said the verdict Justice Department’s envi-
Amtrak train from Texas collides
with large truck outside Chicago
WILMINGTON, Ill. (AP) — the tracks. The truck’s cab
An Amtrak train headed separated from the trailer
to Chicago from San An- and ended up on the oth-
tonio has slammed into er side of the train.
a semitrailer at a crossing None of the cars of the
near the Illinois community train left the track as a re-
of Wilmington. sult of the accident.
Amtrak officials say no seri- The train, the Texas Eagle,
ous injuries have been re- left San Antonio Thurs-
ported at the scene of the day. It wasn’t immedi-
crash Friday afternoon, ately known how many
about 60 miles southwest passengers were aboard
of Chicago. the train. They were be-
The trailer of the truck was ing placed on buses to
overturned and its con- complete their journeys to
tents were scattered along Chicago.q
