Transocean drops bid to depose BP rig supervisor
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Transocean Ltd. has asked a judge to vacate an order requiring BP rig supervisor Donald Vidrine to submit to a medical exam to determine if he is fit to answer questions about his actions on the Deepwater Horizon before an explosion killed 11 workers in 2010.
A court filing Wednesday says rig owner Transocean has agreed to submit a list of written questions to Vidrine instead of questioning him at a deposition.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ordered Vidrine to undergo a medical exam before he and fellow BP well site leader Robert Kaluza were indicted in November on manslaughter charges over the workers' deaths.
Vidrine's lawyers appealed, claiming medical problems preclude his testimony. His attorneys also said he will assert his right against self-incrimination under any form of questioning.
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in case you missed it
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COOL TOWN 2013
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it. -
A curious compact
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven. -
Pooyie 2012
It's good, it's bad and it's just plain crazy. -
Saving Saturday Night
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment. -
Posthaste vs. HART FORTENBERY
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.