UM Grace Case

In a packed courtroom brimming with a sense of quiet anticipation, the long-anticipated Grace trial began as scheduled around 8:30 a.m.

The Grace trial began with the prosecution and defense addressing Judge Donald Molloy regarding charts and graphs to be used in the future. Molloy said attorneys can reference charts in their opening statements, but that there is no guarantee that what they choose to address will be used as evidence to be presented to the jury at a later date.

The 12 jurors, most seeming to be of the working class, middle to late-aged people, were seated and Molloy started with preliminary instructions for court procedure. The government’s eight criminal charges, including conspiracy, Clean Air Act knowing endangerment, and obstruction of justice against W.R Grace were then laid out by Molloy for the jury. After stating these charges he added that “I remind you that’s not proof of anything, that’s the allegations of the government,” adding “keep in mind, there are two sides to every story, the defendants ask that you consider theirs.”

Molloy cautioned the jury that “the opening statment is not evidence,” and said that anything he says to disregard, statements and questions by lawyers, or any information provided outside the court, is not evidence. The trial will only be decided by the evidence presented in court, Molloy stressed.

He went over the definition of conspiracy, one of the charges against Grace, stating that a conspiracy consists of anyone that “willifully participates” in deceiving for their own benefit “even if don’t have all details of the conspiracy.” Molloy also went over a brief background of himself and introduced some important people that will be assisting him during the trial, principally Tyler Gilman, an attorney he said was “critical to the operation” that he will dispatch as counsel regarding legal issues that arise.

Molloy then turned it over to the U.S government to begin their two-hour opening statement, begun by assistant U.S attorney for Montana Kris A. McLean. Kevin M. Cassidy, the senior trial attorney for the environmental crimes section of U.S Department of Justice, would address the second part of the opening statement focused on the individual criminal charges against the Grace defendants. Following the prosecution, a six-hour opening statement is planned for the defense.

McLean began with an overview of the injustice he believes Grace performed, stating that they “chose profits over people’s health. Ultimately this case is about justice, holding this company responsible for a very serious wrong.”

He summarized for the jury what each of the eight counts would address. In a broader sense, two objects will be addressed, including Grace’s release of hazardous asbestos and the company’s hand in preventing EPA from cleaning up the asbestos contamination.

McLean said Grace wrote in a letter to the EPA in 2002 that vermiculite attic insulation, VAI, was not harmful people’s health. McLean also said that Grace had scientific tests performed to assess their contaminated vermiculite. Grace knowingly ignored acting on counsel from researchers at universities such as Harvard that advised the company of the health risks of their mined ore, he said. The mortality rate in Libby due to asbestos is 40 to 80 times that of other places in the nation, adding that people in Libby have 30 times more cases of lung cancer.

- Carmen George