NATION : Hazelwood Called Risky Drinker
A prosecutor portrayed Joseph Hazelwood today as “a gambler” who took the risk of drinking before boarding the Exxon Valdez only to lose his ship.
“Captain Joseph Hazelwood chose to be a gambler,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Brent Cole said in a final argument to the jury. “He chose to be a risk taker. He chose to sit in the Pipeline Club and drink most of the afternoon before he sailed.”
Cole, the first attorney to speak in closing arguments at the 7-week-old trial, said Hazelwood risked his ship and the lives of his crew, and should be found guilty of reckless conduct.
The Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef on March 24, 1989, spilling almost 11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil.
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