UM Grace Case

Friday morning, the jury unanimously found W.R. Grace not guilty on all counts. The jury also found defendants Jack Wolter, Henry Eschenbach, and Robert Bettacchi not guilty.
– Laura Lundquist

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 [...]

In a jury trial, the attorneys are allowed two opportunities to speak directly to the seated jury, during the opening and closing arguments. Closing arguments are generally limited to reviewing the evidence admitted at trial, go over jury instructions, or emphasize important points in the case which may have been missed or forgotten. It is [...]

Wednesday morning, the prosecution packaged its entire case into three hours for the jury, connecting specific evidence with each of the eight counts against W.R. Grace and the remaining three defendants. Government attorney Kris McLean covered the conspiracy count, followed by attorney Kevin Cassidy outlining the remaining counts of knowing endangerment and obstruction of [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Defense attorney Walter Lancaster continued questioning of former W.R. Grace employee Randy Geiger.  Mr. Geiger was in charge of pollution control and conducted air quality sampling at Libby from 1976 to the mid 1980s.  Mr. Lancaster’s questioning focused on how air samples were taken and the results of those tests.  A number of pollution control [...]

The first full day of hearing the defendants’ case began without a ruling on motions to acquit or to dismiss the charges against any individual defendants.
Before the jury entered the room, defense attorney Thomas Frongillo asked  Judge Donald Molloy to clarify his ruling on evidence related to the testimony of Robert Locke, a problematic [...]

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 [...]

 Physician James Lockey testified Wednesday afternoon about a pair of studies examining symptoms of asbestos exposure in workers at an O.M. Scott plant in Marysville, Ohio.  The plant used Libby vermiculite in its gardening products.  Under direct examination from prosecutor Kris McLean, Lockey testified that some of the workers suffered localized plaques, diffuse thickening and [...]