A former BP engineer convicted of obstructing a Justice Department probe of the company’s 2010 Gulf oil spill has asked a judge to disqualify himself from the case.
In a court filing late Wednesday, Kurt Mix’s lawyers say they learned last week that U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. and his law clerk assigned to the case filed civil claims in 2013 for damages against BP.
Duval had disclosed in 2012 that his family owns a beachfront vacation home in Grand Isle and was entitled to seek compensation from BP.
Defense attorneys argue Duval must recuse himself from the case before ruling on their request for a new trial for Mix, who was convicted last month of obstruction of justice for deleting text messages to and from a BP supervisor.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Gas-Guzzler Revival Risks Dead-End Future for US Automakers
When the Workplace Is Everywhere: The New Reality of Workers’ Comp Claims
UK Floods Raise Specter of ‘Mortgage Prisoners’ Across Banks
Besieged Berkshire Utility Tries to Rewrite Who Pays for Wildfires