Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy, is on trial for charges related to the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mining disaster that killed 29 miners. The charges include three felony charges for violating mine safety standards & interfering with government inspections. These charges have relatively light sentences. He is also charged with lying to security regulators & securities fraud. These charges have the most severe sentences, up to 25 or 30 years.
The Don Blankenship trial has been noted for its secrecy. After the indictment, the judge in the case imposed a gag order so complete that it was impossible for the press to find out anything about what was happening. The press was eventually successful in getting this gag order lifted. Don Blankenship also has a very aggressive defense, objecting to just about everything. You will see evidence of the secrecy and the aggressive defense in the actions this past week.
Details after the orange cheese doodle.
Jury selection began Thurs, 1 Oct and was completed Wed, 7 Oct. Jury selection was conducted in one court room, with only court employees, defense and prosecution lawyers, and Blankenship present. The UBB families, public and press were restricted to another court room, supposedly due to space limitations in the first court room. Video feed of the proceedings was provided to the 2nd court room, but the audio feed was deliberately shut off. The defense didn't want even this much, as they wanted the jury selection to be in camera, arguing that the prospective jurors wouldn't be truthful about their prejudice against Blankenship otherwise! The press was unsuccessful in getting a pool reporter in the 1st court room. 111 potential jurors were questioned. 76 were excused for cause, 20 were struck by the lawyers, and a jury of 12 plus 3 alternates was seated.
During opening arguments, the prosecution portrayed Blankenship as a micro manager who pushed for coal production at the expense of safety, condoned safety violations, and covered up the violations. Then after the mine blew up, he made false statements in an attempt to limit his stock losses.
According to the defense, these are all trumped-up charges this is all a government conspiracy targeting Blankenship because he is rich and speaks out against the government. And the accident would never of happened if Blankenship had been allowed to implement his safety innovations instead of being forced to follow unsafe government direction!
Of note: Blankenship is not charged with causing the accident, or the deaths of the 29 miners. The government is prosecuting the charges they feel they have the best chance of gaining convictions on.
Testimony began with a tutorial on mining, including rock dusting to reduce coal dust, and ventilation procedures, and the responsibilities of the fireboss's pre shift safety inspection.
Then a former UBB miner & dispatcher testified on the conditions in the mine, the safety violations, how they would tip off the mine when a mine inspector arrived, and they would then fix the violations. The defense asked if she had personally been ordered by Blankenship to provide advance warning of mine inspectors to the mine.
A MSHA data analyst was next called. He testified to the number of violations at UBB vice other mines who produced as much if not more coal.
The prosecution then moved on to presenting evidence from phone calls Blankenship recorded himself. The defense attempted various arguments to prevent these from being introduced - that they weren't relevant, that they weren't authentic, etc. They succeeded in getting a small number excluded. In the phone calls Blankenship complains that he isn't paid enough and that his wealth is tied to the stock price.
And that's the end of the 1st week.
See the Charleston Gazette and Coal Tattoo for more info.