--- description: A BP employee convicted of deleting text messages to obstruct a probe into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will get a new trial. title: BP Employee Convicted of Deleting Deepwater Texts Gets New Trial image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32417a0b36255955/698697741eebf7d7963716d2/kurt-mix-bp-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A BP Employee Convicted of Deleting Deepwater Texts Gets a New Trial  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 13, 2014 2:05 AM CUT  Kurt Mix, left, leaves Federal Court with an unidentified member of his defense team in New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2013. Kurt Mix, left, leaves Federal Court with an unidentified member of his defense team in New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2013.Gerald Herbert—AP  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 13, 2014 2:05 AM CUT A U.S. District Judge has [thrown](http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/judge-orders-new-trial-for-bp-engineer/26467250#!X9nRG "undefined") out the original verdict, and ordered a new trial, in the case of a BP employee convicted of deleting text messages to obstruct an investigation into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Engineer Kurt Mix, 52, of Katy, Texas, was convicted of obstruction of justice for, prosecutors said, deleting text messages between a supervisor and a contractor with the aim of thwarting a grand jury investigation into the disaster. But Judge Stanwood Duval tossed out that verdict, ruling that it had been compromised by remarks the jury forewoman overheard outside the jury room. Mix denies he was attempting to conceal evidence. He is one of four BP employees charged in connection with the 2010 spill. \[[_WDSU_](http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/judge-orders-new-trial-for-bp-engineer/26467250#!X9nRG "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2867670/bp-employee-deleting-texts-deepwater/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2867670/bp-employee-deleting-texts-deepwater/"},"headline":"A BP Employee Convicted of Deleting Deepwater Texts Gets a New Trial","datePublished":"2014-06-13T02:05:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:24:00.046Z","description":"A judge rules that the original verdict was compromised by remarks overheard by the jury forewoman","url":"https://time.com/2867670/bp-employee-deleting-texts-deepwater/","keywords":["Environment","new orleans","Louisiana","BP"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32417a0b36255955/698697741eebf7d7963716d2/kurt-mix-bp-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32417a0b36255955/698697741eebf7d7963716d2/kurt-mix-bp-trial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kurt Mix","caption":"Kurt Mix","creditText":"Gerald Herbert—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2867670/bp-employee-deleting-texts-deepwater/","name":"A BP Employee Convicted of Deleting Deepwater Texts Gets a New Trial"}}]}] ```