UM Grace Case

After a three-month trial, jurors deliberated for just one full day before acquitting W.R. Grace Co. and three of its executives Friday of all criminal charges.
The company and executives were accused of knowingly exposing residents and mine workers to toxic asbestos, a byproduct of the company’s vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont.
In closing the trial, Judge [...]

After each defendant had pled his case to the jury, the government was given one last chance to speak to the jury and prove it had met its heavy burden of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.  Kris McLean rose to rebut the closing arguments by defendants W.R. Grace, Robert Bettacchi, Henry Eschenbach, [...]

Defense witness William M. Corcoran, Vice President of Public and Regulatory Affairs for W.R. Grace & Co., testified late Thursday morning under the direction of defense attorney Bernick.  Corcoran joined W.R. Grace & Co. in 1999 with the responsibility for environmental, health and safety, communications and governmental affairs.
Corcoran wrote an infamous letter, dated April [...]

Defense attorneys put 4 witnesses on the stand and introduced 14+ exhibits this morning to demonstrate how W.R. Grace acted to reduce dust and asbestos exposure at the Libby mine and mill over the years of its operation by Grace.
First was Randy Geiger, environmental engineer for Grace, who testified to Grace’s continuing and successful efforts [...]

After lunch, the court addressed what Judge Molloy called the “Da Vinci Code,” a flowchart of sorts to aid the jury throughout the case. Molloy provided the following analogy for why he wanted to use the chart, “If you have ever sat in the cockpit of a plane, you know how different a Cub [...]