The pilot of the container ship that struck the Bay Bridge in November and spilled more than 50,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay asked a federal judge Monday to move his criminal trial to Fresno, saying inflammatory news coverage - chiefly by The Chronicle - has prejudiced Bay Area jurors against him.
A review of hundreds of newspaper articles about the spill, the resulting environmental damage, and the alleged misdeeds of Capt. John Cota shows that it would be "difficult, if not impossible, for him to receive a fair trial before an unbiased jury" in San Francisco, Cota's lawyers said in papers filed with a federal judge.
They asked that the trial, scheduled to begin Nov. 17, be transferred to Fresno. As an alternative, they asked the judge to order stringent measures to screen jury members for bias, including exclusion of other prospective jurors from the courtroom while each panel member is questioned.
Cota was piloting the 901-foot Cosco Busan when it struck the second tower west of Yerba Buena Island in a thick morning fog Nov. 7. Spilled oil killed more than 2,000 birds and reached as far north as Bolinas and as far south as the San Mateo County coast.
Cota is charged with two misdemeanors, for allegedly piloting the ship negligently and for killing or wounding migratory birds, and with two felonies, for allegedly lying to the Coast Guard in annual physical exams about the medicine he was taking. The misdemeanor charges are to be tried first, followed by a separate trial on the felony counts.
The ship's operating company, Fleet Management Ltd. of Hong Kong, has been charged with criminal negligence and with falsifying documents to impede a federal investigation.
In Monday's filing, Cota's lawyers said an expert analysis of some of the more than 200 articles The Chronicle has published about the spill found consistently negative references to Cota.
The articles stressed the size of the spill, quoted a state investigation that blamed Cota, and delved into his past conviction for drunken driving and the medication he took for a sleep disorder, defense lawyer Jeffrey Bornstein said in court papers. He said the articles also "misleadingly attributed certain statements" to Cota that amounted to a confession.
In addition, Bornstein said, extensive coverage of the environmental damage and cleanup costs by The Chronicle and other Bay Area newspapers has given local jurors "a larger stake in the outcome of the trial because the event is seen as a crime against the community."
From : http://www.sfgate.com/
19th August 2008
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