In a legal order issued by Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield of Hawaii s U.S. District Court, he concluded attorneys representing the families had not demonstrated that Adm. Samuel Paparo had information they couldn t get elsewhere and did not have a compelling reason to force his testimony.
At the core of the issue is the so-called Morgan and DeVos doctrines, which have historically shielded high- ranking executive branch officials from being deposed in similar cases unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Judge to decide whether top Navy officer can be deposed staradvertiser.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from staradvertiser.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A federal judge is expected to decide soon whether Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the Navy s Pacific Fleet, will have to sit for a deposition in a civil lawsuit brought by military and civilian families whose drinking water was contaminated with jet fuel from the Navy s Red Hill fuel facility in November 2021.