Two W.R. Grace executives dismissed from case
1 May 2009 by Wendi Lewis under NewsThe W. R. Grace & Co. criminal trial continues in Missoula, Montana, but this week two executives on trial for environmental crimes have been dismissed from the case. Robert Walsh was dismissed Monday, and William McCraig was dismissed from the case Thursday morning. Judge Donald Molloy is presiding over this case. Defense attorneys have been seeking to have the entire case dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct, but on April 29 Judge Molloy issued an order not to dismiss the case.
The trial began Feb. 19 in U.S. District Court. A federal grand jury charged W.R. Grace & Co. in February 2005, along with seven of the company’s executives and managers. In June 2008, a Supreme Court decision upheld the grand jury’s findings and the court date was set. The company and its executives are charged with knowingly exposing workers at the Libby, Montana mine, and residents of the town of Libby, to hazardous asbestos.
The asbestos is found in vermiculite, which was mined in Libby for many years. Hundreds of people in Libby have died as a result of asbestos-related diseases, including asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and, less commonly, the stomach and/or the heart.
W.R. Grace defense lawyers are currently presenting their case to the court. It is estimated that the case will go to the jury by the end of next week.
If you are interested in following this case, there is an excellent blog site, Grace Case, which is a joint project of the School of Law and the School of Journalism at the University of Montana. The site provides reports from the courtroom from either a news or legal analysis standpoint, depending on which students are filing the posts.
