November 17, 2015
Former Massey Energy Chief Donald Blankenship won’t take the witness stand to explain what happened when a company mine exploded in 2010 killing 29 workers, choosing instead to leave his fate in the hands of jurors at his criminal trial …
October 14, 2015
Ex-Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship downplayed the threat that miners develop black-lung disease in shafts choked with coal dust, jurors in the executive’s criminal trial heard in a recorded phone call. Blankenship, a vocal opponent of government regulations, …
October 12, 2015
Donald Blankenship’s own words may come to haunt the former Massey Energy Co. chief executive officer at his criminal trial as a federal judge said prosecutors can let the jury hear conversations secretly recorded while he led the company. U.S. …
October 9, 2015
Massey Energy executives used an advanced warning system at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine to alert workers as soon as federal inspectors arrived on site, a former miner testified Thursday at the criminal trial for ex-chief executive Donald Blankenship. …
October 6, 2015
Before death came to Upper Big Branch Mine, Donald L. Blankenship managed his patch of Appalachia like King Coal incarnate. Outside homes in rural West Virginia flew the banner of his company, Massey Energy Co.: a flame leaping out of …
September 29, 2015
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship hits the courtroom for a criminal trial Thursday, facing charges that he conspired to break safety laws and lied to financial regulators about safety practices at the site of the deadliest U.S. mine explosion …
August 3, 2015
Prosecutors say in court documents that evidence about the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster is a necessary part of the government’s criminal case against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports prosecutors made the filing in a …
July 28, 2015
Attorneys for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship want evidence about the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia kept out of his criminal trial this fall. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the attorneys filed a motion …
June 15, 2015
A federal judge has agreed to delay the criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger on Friday delayed the trial from July 13 to Oct. 1, The Charleston Gazette reports. Berger also ordered …
June 8, 2015
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are asking for an October trial in the criminal case against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Blankenship is charged with conspiring to violate safety standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where …