Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003232204
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium
After deliberating just 10 1/2 hours, the jurors absolved Hazelwood of one felony and two misdemeanors stemming from the disaster. The Exxon tanker ran aground and spilled nearly 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989.
The misdemeanor charge of which Hazelwood was convicted carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, far less than the 7\ years and $61,000 fine he could have faced if found guilty on all four charges.
Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone set sentencing for 1:30 p.m. today.
There were bursts of applause in the courtroom as the judge read the three verdicts of "not guilty" to counts of criminal mischief - a felony - reckless endangerment and operating a vessel while intoxicated.
Juror Terrill Smith said he and the others on the panel based their decision on the law and evidence, and "the state just didn't have the evidence."
Hazelwood's New York lawyer, Michael Chalos, a former classmate of his at the New York State University Maritime Academy at Fort Schuyler, N.Y., clapped the skipper on the shoulder and hit the counsel table with his hand at the first "not guilty" verdict.
The normally taciturn defendant smiled broadly for the first time in the two-month trial and told reporters, "I'm just relieved. I was nervous."
"I'm going to try to get along with my life. I'd like to go back to sea," Hazelwood told reporters at a news conference later. "That's what I do."
His lawyer said he would begin negotiations with Exxon to get Hazelwood's former job back, and would fight expected efforts by the Coast Guard to revoke his captain's license. "The only employer he has ever had was Exxon," Chalos said.
"We think it's a great victory for Captain Hazelwood," Chalos said. "We had great faith in the jury system. The only charge he's been convicted of is a low-level misdemeanor."
Jim Morakis, a spokesman for Exxon in New York, said the company, which has fired Hazelwood, was "pleased that the ordeal of the trial is over for Captain Hazelwood and his family.
"The verdict would seem to confirm the view that the grounding of the Exxon Valdez was an accident," Morakis said. "In light of pending litigation any other comment would be inappropriate."
Alaska Attorney General Douglas Baily said at a news conference in Juneau that he did not regret the decision not to seek criminal charges against other crew members, and disputed suggestions the state had tried to make Hazelwood a scapegoat.
"It was always my view that the captain of that vessel is ultimately responsible, and I think that to have gone down the chain, at least on the basis of any evidence we had, would have been inappropriate," Baily said.
by CNB