Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990 TAG: 9003242532
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium
Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone, in sentencing Hazelwood to 1,000 hours of community service by cleaning beaches, said he was disappointed that the fired skipper had not publicly apologized for his role in the disaster.
"I'm sure deep down he is very shameful," the judge said. Johnstone, however, acknowledged that Hazelwood had been advised by his lawyers to keep silent because of the many civil lawsuits he still faces.
Hazelwood's attorneys said they thought the sentence for a single misdemeanor conviction of negligence would be overturned on appeal, in part because the order to pay $50,000 in restitution to the state was illegal.
The judge also gave Hazelwood the maximum jail term of 90 days and fine of $1,000, but suspended both sentences, saying he believed prison would not deter Hazelwood.
"Imprisonment is not going to restore the environment," the judge said. "But there is community outrage and something has to be done to provide condemnation and reaffirmation."
Johnstone, who presided over Hazelwood's seven-week trial, said he believed the captain was wrong to drink before he boarded his ship and believed he violated at least some Coast Guard regulations in the grounding a year ago today.
A 12-member jury found Hazelwood guilty Thursday of a charge of negligent discharge of oil into state waters. But he was acquitted of three other charges, including a felony, that he was reckless and drunk during the disaster that blackened the rocky shoreline of Prince William Sound.
Had he been convicted of all four, Hazelwood could have received a maximum 7\ years and a $61,000 fine.
Hazelwood's attorneys said they would appeal the conviction as well as the sentence, and Johnstone said he would stay the sentence as soon as that appeal is filed.
After the sentencing, Hazelwood attorney Dick Madson told reporters, "The restitution is illegal, I think. The judge has no right to set an arbitrary figure like that."
Madson said that in almost any crime a judge can assess a figure for restitution, an amount that goes to the victim rather than to the state as would a normal fine.
Madson called the order to perform community service "a novel way to come up with a fair sentence," but he and Hazelwood's other attorney, Michael Chalos, said they thought the 1,000 hours were excessive since the sentence would exceed the maximum 90 days in jail allowed under the law.
Even if Hazelwood worked eight hours a day cleaning beaches, they said, he could not finish 1,000 hours within three months.
The judge's decision also met with the disapproval of the jury forewoman, Lori Wing, who was in the courtroom along with four other jurors for the sentencing.
"I had high hopes he would walk out of here a free man and get on with his life," she said.
Hazelwood had no immediate comment on the sentencing. Madson said Hazelwood had come to court expecting the worst: jail time. After Thursday's verdict, Hazelwood had commented, "I'd like to go back to the sea. That's what I do."
However, the skipper's future also is clouded by more than 100 lawsuits filed by assorted victims of the spill.
The Exxon Valdez ran aground on March 24, 1989, gushing nearly 11 million gallons of oil into the sound.
by CNB