Re-trial date to be set next week for ex BP engineer in Gulf oil spill probe
by The Associated Press
Prosecutors allege engineer deleted text messages after Deepwater Horizon disaster
NEW ORLEANS—A former BP engineer who won a new trial in a criminal case arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is expected to learn the date of that trial next week.
Federal prosecutors accused Kurt Mix of deleting text messages about the amount of oil flowing from BP’s Macondo well after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Mix was acquitted on one criminal count in 2013. But he was convicted on an obstruction of justice charge.
The judge later threw that conviction out because of jury misconduct. A federal appeals court recently agreed.
The New Orleans-based federal judge is expected to set a new trial date Wednesday.
Mix has pleaded not guilty. His defence lawyers say he shared information about the flow rate throughout the government investigation.
