When the Deepwater Horizon exploded, it took the lives of 11 people and discharged millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On the rig at the time of the explosion, BP had two supervisors (or “well site leaders”) who were indicted by a federal grand jury on 23 counts. Those charges included 11 counts of “seaman’s manslaughter,” also known as “ship officer manslaughter,” under 18 U.S.C. § 1115. The district court dismissed the seaman’s manslaughter charges, however, finding that Section 1115 did not apply to BP’s well site leaders. The government appealed. In United States v. Kaluza, a recently published opinion out of the U.S. Fifth Circuit, the court affirmed the district court’s ruling that BP’s two well site leaders did not fall within the ambit of the seaman’s manslaughter statute. As such, the well site leaders could not be prosecuted under Section 1115. The Seaman’s ManslaughterRead more