Judge in PG&E criminal trial limits evidence jury can hear

Jurors in the criminal trial of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. can hear evidence about the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion — clearly relevant to the charges that PG&E violated pipeline-safety standards and obstructed justice — but won’t hear some of the most graphic details, like the death and devastation it caused to a neighborhood, or view the wrecked pipe itself, a federal judge has ruled.

“Avoiding accidents like the San Bruno explosion is the very purpose of the Pipeline Safety Act” that PG&E is charged with violating, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said in a decision late Monday over evidence at the upcoming trial.

Henderson also rejected prosecutors’ request to haul the 28-foot-long, 3,000-pound pipe to the front of the courthouse for juror viewing — an exhibit he said would prove little about the facts of the case — but said prosecutors could present photos of the pipe if PG&E disputed the impact of the explosion.

[...] he granted PG&E’s request to exclude evidence of investigations by both the federal safety board and the California Public Utilities Commission that found the utility at fault for the explosion.

On other issues, Henderson tentatively allowed prosecutors to offer evidence that PG&E cut costs on pipeline safety to enhance its profits, if a government witness can draw connections between PG&E’s expenses and its lack of safety measures.

[...] Henderson rejected a prosecution request to admit evidence that PG&E officials had publicly apologized for the explosion, saying the statements might be taken as admissions of pipeline safety violations.