Judge tosses charges against executive in South Carolina nuclear debacle, but case may not be over

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A judge has ordered criminal charges dropped against the final executive accused of lying about problems building two nuclear reactors in South Carolina that were abandoned without generating a watt of power. The judge says she tossed the charges Wednesday because ratepayers of the utility that lost billions of dollars on the project were improperly allowed on the grand jury that indicted Westinghouse Electric Co. executive Jeffrey Benjamin. But federal judge Mary Geiger Lewis also ruled nothing is stopping prosecutors from properly seeking another indictment. Prosecutors say they are not going away as they review the ruling. Benjamin’s attorneys praised the judge for protecting his rights.