mine trial Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Blankenship on Trial: The Case Goes to the Jury

Jurors have begun deliberations in the trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra and Charleston attorney Mike Hissam detail the closing arguments in the case with host Beth Vorhees in this special episode of the podcast recorded as a part of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s morning news show, West Virginia Morning.

Deliberations began around 4 p.m. Tuesday and continue in Charleston federal court Wednesday.

Blankenship is charged with conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws and lying to securities officials and investors about Massey’s safety record following the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners.

Blankenship on Trial: Defense Plays Offense, Calls No Witnesses

Defense attorneys chose to rest their case Monday morning without calling a single witness to aid in their defense of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

In a special edition of the podcast “Blankenship on Trial,” host Scott Finn discusses the surprising turn of events with reporter Ashton Marra and Charleston attorney Mike Hissam.

After putting on nearly 30 witnesses and entering more than 450 pieces of evidence, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin’s Office rested its case Monday morning. That move was followed by a short bench conference during which Federal District Judge Irene Berger spoke directly with Blankenship.

After returning to their seats, lead defense attorney Bill Taylor stood and announced the defense would rest, even as their first prospective witness sat outside the courtroom.

Closing arguments are likely to begin Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. which means the case could go to the jury as soon as Tuesday afternoon.

Blankenship on Trial: The Prosecution Rests. Almost.

After 31 days of presenting witness testimony and hundreds of pieces of evidence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office was set to rest its case Thursday against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. That was, until a motion from the defense to allow them to use a government witness to bring in more evidence threw the prosecution, once again, off course.

In this week’s podcast, host Scott Finn discusses that motion with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hissam as well as the government’s arguments surrounding a 2010 Massey Securities Exchange Commission filing and defense motions for acquittal.

Defense Attorney Bill Taylor is attempting to use excerpts of phone conversations Blankenship himself recorded during his time as Massey’s top official, phone conversations that were previously used by the prosecution to further their case, but those phone calls must be authenticated and brought in under the government’s final witness, FBI Special Agent Jim Lafferty, who took the stand Tuesday.

Thursday, the defense also argued a motion for acquittal in the case, claiming the government had not provided sufficient evidence to prove any of the charges against Blankenship beyond a reasonable doubt.

Blankenship on Trial: Massey's Supposed Whistleblower Bill Ross

The sixth full week of the trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has been almost exclusively focused on Bill Ross, a key witness for the prosecution.

In this week’s episode of the podcast “Blankenship on Trial,” host Scott Finn discusses Ross’s testimony with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Ashton Marra and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hissam.

Ross began the week with emotional testimony about his hopes for a change in the way Massey “did business.” His testimony focused on a 2009 memo from Massey attorney Stephanie Ojeda that contained Ross’s concerns with safety practices, a lack of training and the need for more miners underground. Prosecutors continually pointed out that Ross’s concerns were deemed confidential and kept secret at the company, calling him a “whistleblower that was silenced.”

In his cross examination, Ross testified he was not silenced for his criticisms of Massey. Instead, Ross said he openly discussed his ideas with Blankenship and continued working on plans, trying miner supervisors and expressing his opinions, even recommending ways to address the problems he saw.

Ross Safety Recommendations Kept Confidential at Massey

Jurors heard emotional testimony from former Massey Energy safety official Bill Ross who broke down on the stand Wednesday morning as he discussed his 2009 recommendations to improve safety at the mining company.

Ross began his second day of testimony Wednesday in the trial of ex-Massey CEO Don Blankenship.

After sharing many concerns over safety practices and training in the Massey mine system during a June 2009 meeting with a company attorney and member of the Board of Directors, Ross testified Massey COO Chris Adkins directed him to write out recommendations Ross thought could fix the problems he saw.

In an email soon after, Ross wrote he was “thrilled about a new Massey Energy Company.”

“This company will be pleased with the results and I’ll be relieved,” he wrote in the July 2009 email to Massey attorney Stephanie Ojeda.

Ross broke down on the stand when he was asked how he felt about sharing those recommendations.

“I thought good things were going to happen,” Ross said between deep breaths and long pauses.

“I thought they would take steps to change so I was happy. It would be better for the miners and the company.”

Ross had recommended a re-emphasis on training inexperienced mine managers, increasing staffing levels, a change in company attitude toward the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, and beefing up safety procedures to help reduce the number of violations Massey was receiving.

But some 9 months after his recommendations were shared, Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine exploded, killing 29 men.

“Were you aware if your concerns were ever shared with Massey’s Board of Directors? With investors? With the public at large?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby questioned Ross.

“No one ever talked to me about any of these things,” Ross said.

Ross’s recommendations were marked “confidential- attorney client privilege,” presumably by Ojeda, who Ross sent his recommendations to.

Ross testified he did not know why his concerns or recommendations were kept secret.

“I thought it would be shared with everyone at Massey so we could get a handle on this,” he testified.

Blankenship on Trial: Former Massey Executive Takes the Stand

In this week’s episode of the podcast “Blankenship on Trial,” host Scott Finn discusses the first major witness to take the stand- former Massey Energy executive David Hughart- with reporter Ashton Marra and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Hissam.

Hughart was the president of Green Valley, a Massey coal group, who oversaw the production of three mines. He testified he was under immense pressure from the top down to produce coal at his mines that were often understaffed.

Hughart testified he directed his employees to call underground and warn miners when a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector was on site, a practice that is illegal, after being told do so by his supervisors, including Massey COO Chris Adkins.

The third week of the trial also brought the first audio evidence, recordings of phone calls between Don Blankenship and other Massey officials, and Scott Finn discusses the impact the trial is having on the families with Charleston Gazette-Mail reporter Joel Ebert.