HIGH COURT TO HEAR HAZELWOOD CASE

By IAN MADER
The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE- The state on Monday was given another crack at seeking punishment for tanker captain Joe Hazelwood for his part in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Supreme Court of Alaska said it would hear the state's arguments on Hazelwood's only spill-related conviction on a misdemeanor charge of negligent discharge of oil which the Alaska Court of Appeals overturned in July.

The lower court agreed with arguments that Hazelwood was immune from prosecution because he reported the spill, which sent almost 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound.

Attorney General Charlie Cole said he welcomed the chance to argue the case again, saying the lower court's decision and its result were outrageous.

"It was certainly wrong," Cole said. "Here's a guy who's responsible for what one can argue was one of the worst ecological catastrophes in years and because he simply reports the spill he's immune from all criminal prosecution? It's an outrageous result."

A federal statute that has since been altered by Congress required tanker captains to report spills, and also precluded the use of evidence gathered as a result of such a report. But another statute requiring captains to report when ships run aground provided no similar immunity, Cole said.

Hazelwood reported both to authorities: That the Exxon Valdez had run aground on a charted reef and that oil was spilling.

The grounding report can form the basis for prosecution, said Cole, adding that the state also plans to argue that since the spill would have been discovered anyway, the captain deserved no immunity.

Alaska's top court gave no indication why it had agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments were expected some time next month.

The Associated Press was not immediately able to reach Hazelwood. His New York City attorneys, Michael Chalos and Thomas Russo, could not be reached, but Chalos in the past has called Hazelwood a "scapegoat" who was not responsible for the spill.

Environmentalists and Alaskans have blamed the Huntingon, N.Y., tanker captain for the spill that killed birds, fish, otters and other wildlife, and coated hundreds of miles of rocky coastline with tarry, black oil.

The Anchorage jury that convicted Hazelwood of the misdemeanor in March 1990 acquitted him of three more serious counts, including operating a vessel while intoxicated.

Jurors rejected the state's claim that Hazelwood was drunk because a blood alcohol test was not performed until 10 hours after the tanker hit Bligh Reef.

Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone had sentenced Hazelwood to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, suspending both on condition that the fired Exxon captain complete one year of probation, perform 1,000 hours of community work, and pay $50,000 in restitution.

Hazelwood's master license was restored last year, after it had been revoked on charges brought before an administrative law judge by the U.S. Coast Guard.

As part of an agreement with the Coast Guard in a non-criminal trial, Hazelwood pleaded guilty to charges he was negligent in leaving the tanker's bridge and that he consumed alcohol within four hours of sailing.

While Hazelwood was in command of the ship, he was not at the helm when it slammed into the reef.

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