Judge keeps Grace case in Missoula

The Associated Pressand The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request to move the trial of W.R. Grace and Co. executives out of state, saying the case has been extensively covered by the media but not so much as to keep the defendants from getting a fair trial.

In a lengthy written order, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said he determined, following a review of the news coverage surrounding the case over the last year and a half, that the coverage has been predominantly factual.

"The record does not show a barrage of inflammatory publicity immediately prior to trial. Nor does there appear to be a presently existing wave of public passion," Molloy wrote. "I am not satisfied that so great a prejudice exists against the defendants that they cannot obtain a fair trial here."

The trial, scheduled to begin in September, will remain in Missoula.

Attorneys for Grace have the option of filing for a change of venue within Montana. There's no deadline for filing such a motion; it could be made at the time the jury is selected.

Last year, a federal grand jury charged that Grace and some top managers conspired to conceal the health risks posed by asbestos at its vermiculite mine near Libby and knowingly endangered members of the local community.

Hundreds of people have been sickened by asbestos-related illness, some fatally. The mine closed in 1990.

The defendants argued that the jury pool has been tainted by pretrial news coverage and that a venue change was necessary to ensure a fair trial.

While the case has been covered extensively, "it is not necessary that jurors be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved in the case," Molloy wrote.

The company and seven current or former executives face trial Sept. 11 on a 10-count indictment alleging conspiracy, Clean Air Act violations and other offenses.

Indicted are senior vice president Robert Bettacchi; former director of health Henry Eschenbach; assistant secretary and chief group counsel Mario Favorito; former general manager of operations William McCaig; former mine supervisor Alan Stringer; former senior vice president Robert Walsh; and former vice president of mining and engineering Jack Wolter.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Grace lawyers also have filed eight separate motions to dismiss the charges; Molloy has yet to rule on those motions.

The expert witness disclosure for those motions was due today, with the government's response due by Jan. 20. Arguments on the motions to dismiss will be heard in federal court in Missoula on Feb. 14.

Prosecuting lawyers have indicated the trial will take about three months, but the defendants maintain it will span six months.