2 BP Rig Supervisors Seek 9-Month Delay In Trial

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Defense attorneys are seeking a nine-month delay in the trial of two BP rig supervisors charged with manslaughter in the deaths of 11 workers on the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

Lawyers for Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine said in a court filing Wednesday that they need more time to review millions of pages of documents that Justice Department prosecutors have produced in preparation for a trial scheduled to begin Jan. 14.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. didn't immediately rule on their request. Prosecutors are opposed to a delay.

Kaluza and Vidrine pleaded not guilty last year to charges they botched a key safety test and disregarded abnormally high pressure readings that were glaring signs of trouble before the blowout of BP's Macondo well.

Categories: State News