Federal Judge in Grace Trial Angers Local Citizens, Frustrates Prosecutors

Missoula, Mont. - Many of the residents of Libby, Montana were shocked and outraged by recent comments made by a federal judge who will preside over the upcoming criminal trial of former executives of W.R. Grace Company. The charges against seven of the chemical company's executives stem from government allegations that Grace "knowingly" and "willfully" exposed thousands of its employees and local townspeople to asbestos over a period of many years, those exposures allowed even though the company knew "full well" of the dire health risks associated with its corporate behaviors.

Asbestos is a well-known cancer-causing agent, and hundreds of the citizens of the tiny mining town of Libby have either been sickened or died from the asbestos exposures. In light of the tragic consequences of Grace's alleged actions, it was particularly disturbing to the citizens of Libby when Federal Judge Donald Malloy stated that "A crime victim means a person directly and proximately harmed as a result of the commission of a federal offense." This first part of the judge's statement went unchallenged by the townspeople or government prosecutors-these parties more than willing to point to the local cemetery in order to identify "crime victims", but, when the judge followed his opening comment with, "there are no crime victims identifiable," the outcry began.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that can be found in a wide variety of types in many countries around the world-many of which have now banned the use of the material that was once widely prized by a broad spectrum of industries. In the 1970s, scientists confirmed that microscopic, airborne asbestos fibers could be inhaled into the lungs, where they could remain undetected and dormant for long periods of time (up to 50 years) before leading to serious respiratory illnesses.

Individuals exposed to asbestos suffer from disease such as asbestosis, a severe scarring of the lungs that results in significantly reduced lung function, but the real asbestos killer is known as malignant pleural mesothelioma, a highly aggressive and incurable form of cancer. Thousands of Grace employees, as well as local townspeople, were exposed to vermiculite form asbestos that came from Grace's mine on nearby Zonolite Mountain, hence the trial against the chemical company giant.

Mallory issued the controversial "no victims identifiable" statement as part of a ruling at a pretrial hearing held on Jan. 22 at the Missoula courthouse, and it isn't the first time he has sided directly with Grace defense lawyers who now defend six of the seven executives who were originally indicted over four years ago-one of the seven defendants has since died. Past rulings aside, however, many are wondering how this judge can possibly preside in a fair and impartial manner over the upcoming trial.

One of the first to lash out at Malloy's comments was Dr. Brad Black, who is the head of Libby's asbestos victims medical center. "That is an outrageous and mind-boggling statement, " said Black about Malloy's ruling. "For decades, that company showered Libby with a slow poison, delivered with a full knowledge that the asbestos would sicken or kill a large percentage of our population. If that's not a crime, and these people aren't victims, I don't know what is." As a note, Dr. Black's medical clinic has provided care to over 2,600 victims of asbestos-caused disease in Libby.

In an equally controversial ruling, Jude Malloy has barred some townspeople and numerous victims of asbestos disease from attending the trial, claiming witness testimony might be tainted if one party heard what another had said on the stand. Federal prosecutors have already petitioned the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn both of Malloy's rulings, a tactic that has already resulted in the Appellate Court's striking down several of Malloy's pretrial findings.

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