UM Grace Case

The case against W.R. Grace and five of its former executives – now excluding William McCaig and Robert Walsh who were recently acquitted – was handed over to the jury Wednesday evening after nearly 10 hours of closing arguments from five separate attorneys. The trial, which began on Feb. 19, has been ongoing for nearly [...]

 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 [...]

The government dismissed all charges against Robert C. Walsh Monday afternoon.Walsh is a former vice president of W.R. Grace and one of seven company executives originally indicted on federal charges in 2005.
“With respect to Mr. Walsh,” McLean told Molloy in front of a jam-packed courtroom, “The government can not prove its case without a [...]

Government witness James Lockey’s testimony concluded Wednesday afternoon after a confusing and forceful cross-examination by defense attorney’s David Bernick and Thomas Frongillo, both of whom called into question the Ohio physician’s studies of O.M Scott workers asbestos exposures.
Ultimately, Lockey’s studies (first in 1980-81 and then again 25 years later), which looked at hundreds of [...]

Defense attorney David Bernick began his cross-examination of industrial hygienist and former toxicology coordinator for W.R. Grace, Steve Venuti, this afternoon following Judge Donold Molloy’s frank and stern discussion with the prosecution about its failure to prove its case so far.
After the jury  filed back into the courtroom, oblivious to the dramatic conversation that [...]

Defense attorney David Bernick completed his forceful cross-examination of former W.R. Grace vice president Robert Locke on Thursday.
Throughout his cross-examination, Bernick pointed out a number of things to which Locke testified in 2004, things Bernick showed Locke failed to mention to the jury during his initial examination earlier this week.
Ten times or more, Bernick [...]

After the jury was dismissed due to illness early Wednesday afternoon, Molloy and the attorneys for both sides returned to the courtroom at roughly 3:30 p.m. to discuss the testimony of Dr. Alan Whitehouse, a pulmonologist from Spokane.
The discussion kicked off with a little humor when Judge Molloy couldn’t find his pen and defense [...]

A week filled with mild hostility and objections from both sides came to a close on Thursday afternoon with a heated exchange between lead defense attorney David Bernick and Kris McLean, attorney for the U.S. government.  The only witness to take the stand this week was Dr. Aubrey Miller, but the government witness’s testimony and conflicts over [...]

Court reconvened at roughly 1:15 p.m. after a truncated morning in which the jury was dismissed because one juror had taken ill. A seemingly frustrated Judge Donald Molloy returned this afternoon to tell the courtroom that the sick juror was at the doctor’s office and that the physician would call him with an update as [...]

The testimony of Spokane pulmonologist Dr. Alan Whitehouse resumed, after an early afternoon recess, with a vigorous cross-examination by defense attorney David Bernick.
Bernick began by discussing the “publicity” surrounding the 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer articles and the flow of patients into Whitehouse’s office.  Whitehouse testified that over 50 percent of the roughly 1,800 people he saw [...]