UM Grace Case

The four remaining lead defense attorneys claimed to have rested their case Tuesday morning, but their stipulations prompted Judge Donald Molloy to recess the jury for a brief hearing. When the jury came back into the courtroom, Molloy said the case could go before them Wednesday.
After resting its case, the defense moved to admit [...]

Attorneys representing Robert Bettacchi called several witnesses Tuesday morning in order to discuss the export plant that W.R. Grace & Co. donated to the city of Libby, and Mel Parker’s purchase of the screening plant from Grace.
Thomas Frongillo, representing Robert Bettacchi, said that Parker was called to testify again because additional information had surfaced [...]

During the past week, Judge Donald Molloy dismissed two defendants, ruled on two critical motions and revealed a deadline for his ruling on another.
The prosecution said that they didn’t have enough evidence to prove their case against Robert Walsh on April 27 and defendant William McCaig on April 30. Three defendants remain to face the [...]

  In an attempt to discredit the testimonies of prosecutorial expert witnesses, Dr. Saresh Moolgavkar, an epidemiologist and witness for the defense, suggested Thursday afternoon that the Environmental Protection Agency had overestimated the environmental exposure risks for the community of Libby, Mont.
“There is … no evidence of an increased risk at Libby from environmental exposure,” [...]

The defense raced closer and closer to finishing their case early Thursday afternoon as two witnesses, a former W.R. Grace geologist and epidemiologist took the stand.
Geologist Eric Moeller, who now does independent consulting for mining companies, found out two days ago that his testimony would be needed this week in Missoula.  Moeller was then in [...]

W.R. Grace’s letter to the Environmental Protection Agency advising against a public health emergency for Zonolite attic insulation did not constitute obstruction of justice, Grace lead defense attorney David Bernick argued during the testimony of defense witness William Corcoran.
Corcoran, who has worked as Grace’s vice president of public and regulatory affairs since 1999, testified [...]

Government prosecutor Kris McLean requested that defendant William McCaig, one of five W.R. Grace & Co. executives on trial for conspiring to commit environmental crimes, be dismissed from the case Thursday morning. Judge Donald Molloy granted the request, making McCaig the second executive to be released. Robert Walsh was dismissed Monday.
Immediately after the dismissal, [...]

William McCaig, one of four W.R. Grace & Co. executives on trial for conspiring to commit environmental crimes, was dismissed from the case Thursday morning. He is the second executive to be dismissed from the case. Robert Walsh was dismissed Monday. The Grace company, Robert Bettacchi, Henry Eschenbach, and Jack Wolter are still on [...]

 Wednesday afternoon’s court proceedings heard the testimony of defense witness Katheryn Coggon, a Denver-based lawyer who worked as outside counsel for W.R. Grace following the EPA’s 104E request for information in 1999.
According to Coggon, a 104E is a process in which the government seeks information from a company related to an ongoing Superfund cleanup. “It’s [...]

 Defense lawyers spent the latter half of Wednesday morning attempting to disprove that W.R. Grace conspired to conceal the dangerous nature of Libby vermiculite.
Through the questioning of four witnesses, the defense showed that Grace took action to monitor and reduce workplace dust, that company executives weren’t afraid to take their families to the mine, which [...]