Appeals Court Upholds Victims' Right to Be Heard in BP Plea
A federal appeals court has ruled that a law giving crime victims a say in the plea bargain process was violated when prosecutors forged a deal in the 2005 BP oil refinery explosion.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas should not have allowed a plea bargain to be reached without victim input, the Houston Chronicle reports. But the court noted that U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal held a hearing for victims after the agreement was reached and said it is up to Rosenthal to consider their objections.
Prosecutors had contended that notifying the victims could result in media leaks that would impair settlement negotiations. The plea bargain calls for BP to pay a $50 million fine and serve three years of probation. Fifteen people were killed in the blast.
The court said the prosecutors’ reasons for secrecy did not pass muster. “The government should have fashioned a reasonable way to inform the victims of the likelihood of criminal charges and to ascertain the victims’ views on the possible details of a plea bargain,” the court wrote.
Paul Cassell, a former federal judge who is one of the lawyers for the victims, criticized the ruling. “It’s not really fair to say to the victims that your rights were violated and you get absolutely nothing,” he told the Chronicle.
David Perry, another lawyer for the victims, said he would ask for an en banc rehearing.
The Associated Press and Reuters also covered the ruling.
