Tag: Don Blankenship

Prosecutors Oppose Blankenships Request for Las Vegas Trip

Federal prosecutors are opposing former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's request to go home to Las Vegas for Memorial Day.A prosecution motion filed…

 Federal prosecutors are opposing former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s request to go home to Las Vegas for Memorial Day.

A prosecution motion filed Tuesday in Beckley federal court says Blankenship owns homes in several states. But there’s little evidence of his ties to Las Vegas, other than his claiming residency there.

Blankenship’s attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Irene Berger last week to allow him to travel to Las Vegas to attend to personal matters, including a trip to a dentist.

Blankenship is charged with conspiring to violate safety standards at Upper Big Branch, a former Massey mine where an explosion killed 29 men in 2010. During his case, his travel is restricted to West Virginia, Pike County, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C. Other travel requires judicial approval.

Ex-Coal CEO's Lawyers Say Prosecution Documents Massive

  Attorneys for Don Blankenship say prosecutors have given them more than 4 million pages of documents without identifying information that the government plans to rely on at the former Massey CEO’s trial.

In a motion filed Tuesday, the attorneys say they won’t have time to review all the documents to find this information before the trial, which is scheduled for July. Their motion asks U.S. District Judge Irene Berger to order prosecutors to identify all documents that they intend to use.

Blankenship’s attorneys say prosecutors’ massive production of documents doesn’t meet their obligations under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The ruling says prosecutors violate a defendant’s constitutional rights by not turning over evidence that could prove a person’s innocence.

The Charleston Daily Mail first reported the filing.

Judge Puts Blankenship's Bid to Move Trial on Hold

  A federal judge won’t decide whether to move former coal baron Don Blankenship’s criminal trial until after potential jurors are questioned in Beckley, West Virginia.

Blankenship has asked for a change of venue, arguing that he cannot get a fair trial in southern West Virginia because of prejudicial news coverage. The former Massey Energy CEO was charged with conspiring to violate safety standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine after a blast killed 29 men in 2010. It was the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades.

U.S. District Judge Irene Berger said in Friday’s order that Blankenship’s motion will be put on hold until after questioning of potential jurors is completed. That process is set to begin July 9. The trial is scheduled for July 13.

Blankenship Pleads Not Guilty in Mine Safety Case

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a mine safety case.Blankenship entered his plea on Tuesday at an…

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a mine safety case.

Blankenship entered his plea on Tuesday at an arraignment hearing in U.S. District Court in Beckley. The hearing was based on a new, superseding indictment handed up earlier this month.

Blankenship also pleaded not guilty during his first arraignment in November.

He is charged with conspiring to violate safety standards, falsifying coal dust samples and defrauding federal financial regulators related to Upper Big Branch Mine. A blast at the southern West Virginia mine killed 29 men in 2010. It was the deadliest U.S. coal mine accident in four decades.

Blankenship could face up to three decades in prison, if convicted.

Court in Va. Hears Media's Gag Order Appeal in Blankenship Case

A lawyer for five media organizations has urged a federal appeals court to toss out a gag order in former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s criminal case.

Blankenship was CEO when the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia exploded in 2010, killing 29 men. He’s charged with conspiring to violate safety and health standards.

The Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, NPR, The Associated Press and other news outlets are appealing U.S. District Judge Irene Berger’s gag order in the case. 

At a hearing Monday in Richmond, an attorney for the media organizations told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the order violates the First Amendment by barring virtually anyone with knowledge about the case from discussing it publicly. That includes victims’ relatives.

Gag Order Not Needed if Trial Moved

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s lawyers say a gag order in his criminal case would be unnecessary if his trial is moved.

They say in a legal brief that polling shows about half of the community in the U.S. District Court’s Beckley Division believes Blankenship is guilty.

Defense lawyers filed the brief this week in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia in response to an appeal regarding the gag order. The brief says the appeals court should allow U.S. District Judge Irene Berger to rule on Blankenship’s motion to move the trial before it acts on the appeal.

Blankenship is charged with conspiring to violate safety and health standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. The mine exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.

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