The Massey mine explosion was the worst mining disaster in U.S. history. “This is a record which will be very full of errors on appeal”. Don Blankenship leaves the federal courthouse with his attorneys after the verdict in his trial in Charleston, W.Va., Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015.
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“The evidence was insufficient to justify conviction on any count, and the conviction of the misdemeanor in the first count will be reversed”, Taylor said.
Never before has a senior coal executive been convicted in connection with the deaths of miners. The misdemeanor charge was the least serious of the three facing Blankenship but still could bring a year in prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 23.
Blankenship was acquitted on two felony counts of making false statements to federal authorities. The accident that spurred the case happened at the sprawling Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia in 2010, which was owned at the time by Massey Energy.
University of Virginia law professor Brandon Garrett said the verdict shows jurors can hold a corporate chief accountable in a complex case. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said the former executive had “blood on his hands”. Blankenship, who was known for his vocal and acerbic responses to the environmental activists and government regulators that targeted Massey over the years, had kept a fairly low profile since the sale of Massey – at least until this trial dragged him back into the spotlight.
Blankenship is charged with conspiring to break safety laws and defrauding mine regulators at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine and lying to financial regulators and investors about safety. He helped Massey grow into the nation’s fourth-largest coal company by revenue, but under his guidance it acquired a reputation for placing profits before people.
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship repeatedly argued after the explosion that the tragedy was unavoidable and due to a sudden influx of gas through a rupture in the mine floor. “I think the consequences will send ripple effects through the industry, and not just mining”, said Davitt McAteer, who had headed the investigation of the mining site, reported the Washington Post. “The fact we were able to obtain that kind of justice today is a great victory”, he said.
The terrain shifted with Blankenship’s indictment last fall, days after authorities reached an agreement that gave immunity to Christopher L. Blanchard, the president of the Massey subsidiary that ran Upper Big Branch.
“I want him to rot in hell to be honest with you”, shared Depoy, who lost her 53-year-old brother Boone Payne.
Blankenship was convicted Thursday of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby also addressed the jury about the mine’s conditions.
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And prosecutors noted that justice isn’t only measured by the prison sentence.
