Judge Criticizes Prosecutors in Asbestos Case

Source: The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com
Associated Press
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

MISSOULA, Mont., April 27 -- The federal judge in the W.R. Grace asbestos case told Justice Department prosecutors Monday that they "presented discombobulated allegations" and didn't understand the evidence.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy did not rule immediately on defense motions to dismiss charges against Grace, a Columbia, Md.-based firm, and several former executives. But he raised the possibility of declaring a mistrial in the case, which has been before a jury for two months. Jurors, absent during the hearing Monday, were due back in court Tuesday.
Acting on a motion from the prosecution, Molloy did dismiss charges against one former executive, Robert Walsh. Prosecutors said they lacked evidence to continue their case against Walsh.

The government alleges that Grace and five former executives concealed health risks posed by asbestos-laced vermiculite from a northwestern Montana mine that closed in 1990. Attorneys for some Libby residents say asbestos has sickened about 2,000 people in and around the community and killed about 225.

The judge said that he mistrusts the testimony of a key government witness, Robert Locke, a former Grace executive who testified that he helped the company impede a government study of health issues related to the mine near Libby.

"Do you want to have these jurors convict someone on perjured testimony?" Molloy asked.

"We don't believe it's perjured testimony," replied Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Racicot.

Another federal prosecutor, David Cassidy, said that Locke's testimony was "more consistent than inconsistent" and that documents corroborate much of it.

Grace lawyer David Bernick said that misleading and prejudicial testimony have so tainted the trial that it cannot be salvaged. Bernick said the case has been litigated for political reasons, aimed at advancing the agenda of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversaw years of environmental cleanup in Libby.