Jurors find W.R. Grace and execs not guilty; Libby shocked

[Newsjock]

Source: Missoulian

After deliberating one full day, jurors returned not guilty verdicts in the W.R. Grace & Co. trial on Friday, acquitting the corporation and three individual defendants and ending the largest environmental crimes prosecution in United States history.

Grace and three former executives - Robert Bettacchi, Jack Wolter and Henry Eschenbach - were acquitted of charges relating to a federal conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations and obstruction of justice. An eight-count indictment alleged that the company and its top employees knowingly endangered the community of Libby by mining asbestos-laced ore, and that they did so in violation of federal law.

“Nothing can erase the legacy of what happened many, many years ago in Libby. But the notion that the company for the last 30 years engaged in this criminal conduct is not grounded in fact,” said David Bernick, lead attorney for Grace.

... In Libby, reaction to the verdict was immediate and intense.

“Absolutely unbelievable,” were the first words from Gayla Benefield, a lifetime Libby resident whose mother died of asbestosis. “Well, I guess you’ve got to live with it.”

Read more: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/05/08/news/top/news001.txt

[havocmom]

1. fucking black day for justice

Cheney.... he added that company to Haliburton when he was in charge of it, didn't he? Just sayin'....

Reagan appointed Grace to head up his EPA.

Sure, I believe there was no obstruction... sure I do. :grr:

[elleng]

4. I think you've got the wrong company in mind,

Grace bought the mine in 1963 and closed it in 1990.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/136/story/712750.html

[KT2000]

2. Please learn from this

Environmental health injuries and death mean nothing in our so-called system of justice.
This is just the most visible case but most end up like this.
The list of such injustices is long and the victims are thrown overboard.

[elleng]

6. Grace sought court protection

in 2001 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, in response to more than 100,000 claims for damages related to asbestosis, most of them unrelated to Libby.

Since then, the company has fought with asbestos lawyers and creditors over how best to set up the trust to compensate people damaged by the company’s products. Last year, it settled on the outlines of a $2.4 billion trust that is at the heart of its reorganization plan.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6WFdRnfLuNE&refer=home

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. One day of deliberation?

After a 35-day trial?

One day?

The judge is a Clinton appointee, which is kind of surprising. But, conspiracy is a hard, hard thing to prove. What they said about so many documents not being allowed into evidence tells you that the government's ability to prove conspiracy was seriously compromised.

This stinks in so many ways.

[elleng]

5. More prosecutorial games went on. Judge was pissed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6WFdRnfLuNE&refer=home

[asp64064]

7. "Pay -To - Play" The American Way

Tobacco, Asbestos, Oil & Gas, Medical Equipment, Pharma, Banking and Health Care. Its called Fascism with no accountability pure and simple. Everybody gets covered except the Victims. If we enforced our laws, there would be no one left to make political contributions.

Everything in this country has been hijacked with corruption. Its not about Law and Justice but rather who can buy the most influence.

What a Country!!!

[ro1942]

8. agree

couldn't agree more with your statement

[Lerkfish]

12. sadly, your link doesn't work for me now.

what did it say?

[elleng]

26. Among other things,

Grace sought court protection in 2001 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, in response to more than 100,000 claims for damages related to asbestosis, most of them unrelated to Libby.

Since then, the company has fought with asbestos lawyers and creditors over how best to set up the trust to compensate people damaged by the company’s products. Last year, it settled on the outlines of a $2.4 billion trust that is at the heart of its reorganization plan.

[Lerkfish]

27. thank you.

that helps!

[Joanne98]

9. Punish the jurors

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. At least put them on trial so we can find out if they got paid off.

[shanti]

19. of course they got paid off

it's pretty obvious.

[24601]

25. Yeah, same guys who paid the original OJ jury. n/t

[primavera]

28. You might get farther punishing the lawmakers

I don't know the details of this case, so I should probably keep my moth shut, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it were the case that the existing laws in effect were so weak and limp-dicked that the unspeakable crimes committed by the corporation weren't really crimes at all in the eyes of the law. Remember, courts don't make laws, they just apply the pitifully wimpy laws that Congress has been willing/able to pass.

[nichomachus]

11. The problem with environmental cases

is that they tend to be confusing. Even though we know at a gut level what caused the people's deaths, the evidence is conflicting and can be very confusing.

The goal of the corporate lawyers is to throw enough confusion into the process that the jurors -- a bunch of people picked out of the phone book and who couldn't think of a good reason not to serve -- are totally overwhelmed, which isn't hard.

Remember, the average American has an attention span of five minutes, struggles with words over two syllables, and can't remember more than two things without writing them down.

I've watched more than my share of high-profile environmental cases (as part of my former occupation) and in every one there was an endless parade of "expert witnesses" -- a euphemism for whores with Ph.D.s -- whose job it was to put the jurors into a stupor.

There were three cases I remember in particular -- these were cases involving tens of millions of dollars -- where the verdict came down at 4 p.m. on a Friday of a long holiday weekend -- and all were in favor of the polluters.

This is why it's better in the countries that have professional jurors who are trained to evaluate even complicated evidence and who aren't being yanked away from their families and their everyday lives for months at a time.

[KT2000]

18. Another problem

is that the judges have been courted by the corporate interests. They call them educational conferences but they are intended to sway judges in their perception of environmental damage - like you say - add more confusion.
Also - laws of evidence have been changed to better suit the corporations.
Some people at the Manhattan Institute have been working hard on such endeavors.

[Cleita]

13. That is shocking.

I'm speechless. I became aware of the problems in Libby more than twenty years ago. There is no justice in this. It would be interesting to find out who tainted the jury because that is what it has to be.

[bottomtheweaver]

17. 78-year old Libby resident: "You're wasting your time. You're not going to beat them.

They've got endless power. They buy and sell politicians like we change socks. I don't have no faith in the judicial system at all.”

http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/05/09/news/local/news02.txt

Depressing, but true. The asbestos industry has been ruthlessly promoting its poisonous products for half a century with the help of its enablers in several professions. It's gotten away with murder more than once and its crimes go to the root of the problem Eisenhower warned us about.

[RoccoR5955]

14. It's not Justice we have in this country when corporations are concerned,

As far as the corporations are concerned, it's 'just us.'

[bottomtheweaver]

15. The asbestos industry has been playing this game a long time

and they're very good at it. Here's a 2008 book published by Oxford available (partially) on Google books. The first ten pages tells you all you need to know, without even getting into the evil CIA crap:

Defending the Indefensible: The Global Asbestos Industry and Its Fight for Survival
By Jock McCulloch and Geoffrey Tweedale
Published by Oxford University Press US, 2008

In the early twentieth century, asbestos had a reputation as a lifesaver. In 1960, however, it became known that even relatively brief exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma, a virulent and lethal cancer.

Yet the bulk of the world's asbestos was mined after 1960. Asbestos usage in many countries continued unabated.

This is the first global history of how the asbestos industry and its allies in government, insurance, and medicine defended the product throughout the twentieth century. It explains how mining and manufacture could continue despite overwhelming medical evidence as to the risks.

The argument advanced in this book is that asbestos has proved so enduring because the industry was able to mount a successful defense strategy for the mineral--a strategy that still operates in some parts of the world. This defence involved the shaping of the public debate by censoring, and sometimes corrupting, scientific research, nurturing scientific uncertainty, and using allies in government, insurance, and medicine.

The book also discusses the problems of asbestos in the environment, compensating victims, and the continued use of asbestos in the developing world. Its global focus shows how asbestos can be seen as a model for many occupational diseases--indeed for a whole range of hazards produced by industrial societies. The book is based on a wealth of documentary material gained from legal discovery, supplemented by evidence from the authors' visits and researches in the US, the UK, Canada, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, Australia, Swaziland, and South Africa.

http://books.google.com/books?id=CWTeH9GJsfgC&client=opera&hl=en

[lfairban]

16. Little Leaguers

"Former Little Leaguers told jurors about playing baseball on fields contaminated with asbestos-tainted vermiculite.
Prosecutors claimed Grace knew the vermiculite ore it mined and processed in Libby contained naturally occurring asbestos that released toxic fibers into the air “at the drop of a hat,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean told jurors in closing arguments on May 6.
The company nevertheless donated its vermiculite to schools, allowed children to play on it, lied about it to federal agencies and sold contaminated properties, the government alleged."

[aejlaw]

20. Criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt

which is difficult when you are up against big corporations with plenty of experts and skilled defense attorneys. A civil case requires a lesser burden of proof and damages to the victims. Making the victims whole is what it is all about. Perhaps there is still some hope.

[Hannah Bell]

21. Grace's board: Ties to Citibank, Dresser

John F. Akers

Mr. Akers served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of International Business Machines Corporation from 1985 until his retirement in 1993. He is also a director of
Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., The New York Times Company and PepsiCo, Inc.


H. Furlong Baldwin

Mr. Baldwin served as a director of Mercantile Bankshares Corporation from 1970 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Board from 1984 to 2003. From 1976 to 2001 he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Baldwin is Chairman of NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., and also a director of Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. and Allegheny Energy Inc.


Ronald C. Cambre

Mr. Cambre is retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of Newmont Mining Corporation. He joined Newmont as Vice Chairman and CEO in 1993 and retired as CEO in 2000 and as Chairman in 2001. He is also a director of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and McDermott International, Inc.


Fred E. Festa

Mr. Festa is Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Grace. Prior to joining Grace, Mr. Festa was a partner of Morganthaler Private Equity Partners, a venture capital and buyout firm, from 2002 to 2003. From 2000 to 2002, he was with ICG Commerce, Inc., a private company providing online procurement services, where he last served as President and Chief Executive Officer.


Marye Anne Fox

Dr. Fox is Chancellor of the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chemistry at that institution. She is also a director of Boston Scientific Corporation, Red Hat, Inc. and Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc.


John J. Murphy

Mr. Murphy served as Chairman of the Board of Dresser Industries, Inc., a supplier of products and technical services to the energy industry, until 1996. From 1997 to 2000, he was a Managing Director of SMG Management L.L.C., a privately owned investment group. Mr. Murphy is also a director of CARBO Ceramics, Inc. and ShawCor Ltd.


Paul J. Norris

Mr. Norris is a non-executive Member of the Board of Grace. Mr. Norris was actively engaged in Grace's business from 1998 to his retirement as Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Between 2005 and 2007, Mr. Norris served as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Grace. Mr. Norris performs advisory services for Kolberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which is the principal shareholder of Sealy Mattress Corp. He is also a director of FMC Corporation and the Sealy Mattress Corp.


Christopher J. Steffen

Mr. Steffen most recently served as Vice Chairman of Citicorp and its principal subsidiary, Citibank N.A. Since his retirement in 1996, he has been a consultant to a number of companies and public accounting firms and served on committees advising the Financial Account Standards Board. Mr. Steffen currently sits on the boards of Accelrys, Inc., ViaSystems, Inc. and several private companies in which he has an ownership stake.



Mark Tomkins

Mr. Tomkins last served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Innovene, a petrochemical and oil refining company that is now part of the INEOS Group. Over the course of his career, he has held senior financial management positions for several top chemical and industrial companies including Vulcan Materials Company, Chemtura, Honeywell and Monsanto.



Thomas A. Vanderslice

Mr. Vanderslice served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of M/A-COM, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of radio frequency and microwave components, devices and subsystems for commercial and defense applications, from 1989 until his retirement in 1995. He is currently a private investor. As Lead Independent Director of Grace's Board, he presides at all executive sessions.

[Hannah Bell]

23. Margarita Grace, daughter of one of the founders of Grace, married John S Phipps,

son of Henry Carnegie's partner Henry Phipps.

here's one of their grandkids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Eristoff

WR Grace = first irish-catholic mayor of nyc.

[eppur_se_muova]

22. No convictions for friends of DDDDDick. No exceptions.

Potential violators face waterboarding.

[Festivito]

24. No one seems to be thinking prosecutorial misconduct.

Making ones selves to seem as railroading would anger a jury enough to receive nullification.

Could this be yet another case of the Bush Department of inJustice?