Acquitted? Would that be young Mr. Grace or old Mr. Grace?
Posted on 05/09/2009 1:48:36 PM PDT by CutePuppy
A federal jury on Friday acquitted W.R. Grace & Co. and three of its former officials of charges that they knowingly exposed residents of Libby, Mont., to asbestos poisoning associated with a mining operation and conspired to hide it.
The verdict brings to an ignominious end one of the most significant criminal prosecutions the government had ever filed against a corporate polluter. The acquittals raise new questions about prosecutorial failings in the Justice Department, which already was reeling from the dismissal of its corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
In Libby, where an estimated 1,200 residents have died or developed cancer or lung disease, the judgment dashed hopes that someone would be held accountable for decades of suffering.
... W.R. Grace still faces civil cases in which residents are seeking compensation for health claims.
... It took the jury little more than a day to reach its verdict, after an 11-week trial during which U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy told the prosecution that he found one of its star witnesses to be not believable. The government, he suggested, had brought a case whose scope was far larger than what prosecutors were prepared to pursue and prove at trial.
... Though failing to find prosecutorial misconduct, Molloy said that Justice Department lawyers had withheld key information that would have undermined the credibility of former Grace executive Robert H. Locke's testimony.
... "The proof that the government relied on was this former employee, Robert Locke, who left the company on not very favorable terms and -- based on evidence that was disclosed during trial -- had a very close relationship with government agents and had a seeming interest [in the outcome of] the case,"
... The judge also scoffed at prosecutors' claim that they had "a thousand balls in the air"
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.latimes.com ...
This is from LA Times, so author has to be forgiven for using "someone would be held accountable" instead of correct "someone would be made to pay", and "At least one juror was in tears as the verdict was read."
—as somewhat of an aside to this , one of the original defendants worked for me years ago— (I knew his dad, also)—unfortunately, he died several months ago so wasn’t in on the acquittal-—
I predict that sometime during the BO administration, the feds will trump up charges against Sheriff Joe in AZ.
Interestingly we ran into this when we encountered vermiculite in a state building. A responsible person in state of Maryland called me an idiot when I brought up this case. We only wanted to make sure we weren’t next to be sued.
Sounds as if the writer is a little biased. From the verdict it seems that the government filed against a non-polluter.
The lead prosecutor in the Stevens case was a shining star in the Democrat justice system. She had been found guilty of the same type of action in a Texas case that cost the government a couple of million in compensation plus the costs.
Holder moved her into a position in the justice department to train other prosecutors in how to pursue investigative cases against private corporations.
My grandparents built ther house there in 45 and raised 4 boys. So far no one has suffered, but the clock ticks on. The whole thing is so sad.
Media (except WSJ editorials) were also silent with the silicone breast implants cases that were fraudulent, and several other asbestos cases.
Suing companies for harm ex post facto, after material was declared harmful is an abuse of legal system to begin with, not even including the misconduct of prosecutors in withholding information from defense and making deals with interested parties for false testimony.
The lead prosecutor, William W. Mercer, was appointed by President Bush.
Unfortunately, Brenda Morris is not alone in this type of prosecutorial misconduct.
Too many that go into the profession are governed not by sense of promoting justice but having the means and power to advance their careers or political beliefs.
Acquitted? Would that be young Mr. Grace or old Mr. Grace?
Top prosecutor of Stevens was criticized in San Antonio case - San Antonio Express-News, April 8, 2009
She was promoted in August 2006 to principal deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section in Washington and was the lead prosecutor in the Stevens case. “This is a prosecutor who needs to be removed, and I would hope the attorney general utilizes the same test of integrity as he did in the Stevens case,” said U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, who ruled against Morris in Brown's case. Brown's lawyers say Morris never reined in the agents and proceeded unfairly. “I wasn't shocked about her behavior. I was shocked that anybody did anything about it,” Brown said, referring to the Stevens case. “It appears as though she's continuing a course of conduct of not following the rules, not reining in her agents and not operating fairly,” said Bill Reid, a former federal prosecutor who handled Brown's lawsuit against the government. [Brenda] Morris, in the Washington, D.C., office, had been picked by the Justice Department to handle the case after it recused every prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio because of a potential conflict of interest.
Judge Dismisses Stevens Case, Orders Inquiry - NPR, by Nina Totenberg, April 7, 2009 "The events of this case are too numerous and serious to leave to an internal inquiry by the Justice Department," Sullivan said. He noted that the Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility has supposedly been investigating the prosecutors' conduct for six months, and "the silence has been deafening." Accordingly, said Sullivan, he was invoking a federal law allowing him to undertake contempt proceedings against the entire first team of prosecutors. "I have the highest regard for Attorney General Eric Holder," said the judge, but because the interests of justice are best served by taking this investigation out of the Justice Department, Sullivan said he had appointed a private attorney — an experienced former prosecutor and military judge named Henry Schuelke to conduct the inquiry. Not every member of the original prosecution team was involved in the case from the beginning. Indeed, the lead prosecutor, Brenda Morris, was assigned to the case only weeks before the trial began. Sullivan minced no words. "In 25 years on the bench," he said, "I've never seen anything approach the mishandling and misconduct in this case." Again and again, he said, the government was caught making false representations and failing to meet what it knew was its obligation to turn over information that was potentially favorable to the defense. The fair administration of justice, he said, should not depend on the luck of the draw — it should not depend on who represents a defendant or whether an FBI agent blows the whistle or whether there is a new administration or a new attorney general or a new trial team.
According to the jury in this case, either one of them is NOT guilty.
No, I meant the lead in the Steven’s case. She was a Black woman.
Fitzpatricks’s = Patrick Fitzgerald’s
You not only meant the Steven's case, you SAID the Steven's case.
My mistake.
All I know is that the home I lived in for 14 years was insulated with the vermiculite from the W.R.Grace mine from Libby MT and I vacuumed up those little pellets for those 14 years before vacuuming the remainder of the house. Now 21 years later I have been diagnosed with cancer. My boys thought playing with those little pellets of insulation was pretty neat as well so all I can do is tell them to get regular screening for cancer. W.R. Grace declared bankruptcy when the claims against them became too great and this case became as much one about who had more power amongst the agents of the E.P.A. and who would become King of Libby MT amongst those E.P.A. agents those located on the ground in Libby or the agents in the Denver field office. It really is sad for all the people affected.
Prayers for your health.
Not exactly comparable but I have heard of people with lung cancer that had never smoked tobacco, while at the same time I know of people who have smoked practically all their adult life and have not developed cancer.
It really is sad for all the people affected.
That is exactly the problem. Everybody lost. From the beginning, the lawsuit was a money grab, designed not to help the people but to bankrupt the company and show the power of the EPA and Justice Dept. To really help people, matter should have been settled relatively easy and quickly with the company. That is exactly why the power of the Big Government should be curtailed, because many people in government get "drunk on power" and power is all that matters to them.
Unfortunately, many businesses are treated simply as "big pockets" and have to also contend with the other side of the coin - unscrupulous tort lawyers - see my post Judge refers lawyer for prosecution in Dole fraud
Again, my best wishes for your recovery.
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