Judge won't dismiss charge faced by ex-BP engineer

Duval agreed most of the texts were innocuous but he said some dealt with the spill. He said a jury would have to decide their relevance.

During a three-hour hearing on various defense and prosecution motions, Duval also turned down a defense motion seeking more details from the prosecution on how Mix is alleged to have impeded a grand jury investigation into the spill and response.

The judge declined to rule immediately on a defense motion seeking an array of documents dealing with BP's measure of the flow from the spewing well and efforts to stop the flow.