HAZELWOOD'S SOBRIETY TEST
ATTORNEYS WANT RESULTS THROWN OUT AS EVIDENCE

The Associated Press

VALDEZ- Fired Exxon skipper Joseph Hazelwood's sobriety test results should be thrown out Wednesday.A request to move Hazelwood's Oct. 30 trial out of Valdez also was among the motions filed in Valdez Trial Courts.

The request to suppress results of a bloodalcohol test administered to Hazelwood after the oil tanker that he supervised ran aground March 24 is based on several arguments. They include the assertion that the test was not given legally.

"The approved method for determining blood alcohol in Alaska is the Breathalyzer," said attorney Ken Covell, who is assisting Fairbanks attorney Dick Madson in Hazelwood's defense. "Generally speaking, you can't force somebody to submit to a bloodalcohol test." Hazelwood was not offered a breath test and did not consent to a blood test, Covell said.

Hazelwood failed the blood test for sobriety, performed about 10 hours after the accident that occurred early the morning of Good Friday. The 987foot Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound and spilled nearly 11 million gallons of oil. The spill was the nation's worst and is expected to have environmental effects for years.

Hazelwood, of Huntington, N.Y., faces misdemeanor charges of operating a vessel while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of pollutants. A felony indictment charges him with three counts of seconddegree criminal mischief. He is free on $50,000 bail.

The motions filed Wednesday seek dismissal of the endangerment and pollution charges.

"Essentially, the facts alleged, even if proven at trial, would not substantiate a conviction on those charges," Covell said.

The motion for a change of venue does not specify an alternate location for a trial, but "Fairbanks would afford Capt. Hazelwood the best opportunity to obtain a fair trial," Covell said.

The state has 21 days in which to respond to the motions.

The length of Hazelwood's trial will depend partly on how the motions are decided by Palmer Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler, who is presiding in the case.

"A ballpark figure is two weeks," Covell said. "It just depends. Jury selection could go on forever."

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