November 17, 2015
A federal jury on Tuesday began deliberating conspiracy charges against former West Virginia coal magnate Don Blankenship, who prosecutors said in closing arguments exerted unrelenting pressure on his Massey Energy workers to look past hazards and wring profits from the Upper Big Branch mine before an explosion killed 29 people.
November 16, 2015
The defense team for ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship rested its case in West Virginia federal court on Monday without calling witnesses, after the federal prosecutors rested their own case accusing him of flouting safety regulations before a deadly mine explosion, according to reports.
October 07, 2015
A West Virginia federal judge on Wednesday refused an attempt by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to transfer the federal government's criminal case accusing him of driving safety violations before an explosion killed 29 people at a mine.
October 02, 2015
West Virginia's U.S. attorney has conscripted two Department of Labor mine safety lawyers as special prosecutors for the trial of former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship, new filings revealed Thursday, as jury selection began on charges he mandated safety shortcuts before a 29-death mine explosion.
September 24, 2015
A West Virginia federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to delay the looming Oct. 1 trial until January, saying Blankenship didn't provide a good reason to warrant a rescheduling.
September 17, 2015
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is pushing further in his effort to delay his October trial for three months, telling a federal court on Wednesday that the thousands of documents dropped in his lap last week don't include everything he's asked mine regulators to turn over.
September 11, 2015
Former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship asked a West Virginia federal judge Friday to move his trial date from October to January, saying the government only this week produced tens of thousands of documents in its criminal fraud conspiracy case against him.
September 10, 2015
A West Virginia federal judge Thursday rejected former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship's last-ditch effort to beat a criminal conspiracy charge against him or limit evidence before his impending jury trial, saying the dismissal bid misinterpreted the nature of the fraud conspiracy charges against him and the evidentiary motions are late.
September 03, 2015
Prospective jurors in the soon-to-open criminal trial of former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship face granular questions about their feelings toward coal mining companies and their relationships to people who have been killed in coal mines, according to a questionnaire filed Thursday.
August 20, 2015
The U.S. told a West Virginia federal judge Wednesday that ex-Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship cannot split up his criminal case because all three charges are related to an explosion that killed 29 workers after he ordered mine safety violations.