United States v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Case No. 14-cr-00175-TEH, Not reported in F. Supp. 3d. (2015)

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United States v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company

United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Case No. 14-cr-00175-TEH, Not reported in F. Supp. 3d. (2015)

  • Written by Sharon Feldman, JD

Facts

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) (defendant) owned and operated gas lines. A PG&E gas line ruptured and caused a fire that killed and injured people and damaged homes. The grand jury investigating the matter was instructed that it could impute to PG&E the actions of all of its employees to find that PG&E had willfully violated the law. The grand jury returned an indictment charging PG&E with knowing and willful violations of the safety standards for pipeline transportation of natural gas under the Pipeline Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. § 60123. PG&E moved to dismiss the charges on the ground that the government had erroneously instructed the grand jury based on a collective-knowledge theory of intent.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Henderson, J.)

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