INDReporter

Ex-BP executive seeks trial delay

by Walter Pierce

David Rainey's trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 23. In a court filing Thursday, his attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt to move the start of the trial to Oct. 14 for unspecified "personal scheduling reasons."

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A former BP executive has asked a federal judge to delay his trial on charges he concealed information from Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking from the company's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

David Rainey's trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 23. In a court filing Thursday, his attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt to move the start of the trial to Oct. 14 for unspecified "personal scheduling reasons."

Engelhardt didn't immediately rule on the request.

Rainey pleaded not guilty in November to charges of obstruction of Congress and making false statements. Prosecutors said Rainey, who was BP's vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, withheld information that more oil was gushing from the well than BP initially estimated.