Better Prosecutions of Environmental Crimes

The W.R. Grace environmental crimes case in Montana was a perfect example of how the Rove Republican Racket bumbled the case by engaging in prosecutorial misconduct. As you may recall, W.R. Grace executives were acquitted in part due to the non-disclosure of the government's relationship with a star-witness.

Now James O'Toole, Jr. (pictured), a prominent attorney from the City of Brotherly Love and Chair of the Environmental and Toxic Tort Group of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is reassuring the public that the failures in Montana won't effect prosecution of environmental crimes in the future. We say, Thank God! O'Toole, in a company news release, states:

"The government took it on the chin with [the star-witness]", O'Toole said. "When a judge says that your main witness can't be trusted, that can't help your cause. This case was difficult when it started but became all but impossible when it came to light that the government had failed to adequately disclose its relations with the star witness." Despite the outcome, some believe — including O'Toole — that this particular case will not set a precedent for future cases dealing with the EPA."I don't believe you're going to see the Justice Department or the EPA shy away from criminal prosecutions in the future simply because of some of these missteps in the past. The agency's proposed budget is going to have at least a $600 million increase, with $32 million for enforcement alone. They're going to hire 30-plus additional positions just to handle enforcement and investigation: When you have a robust budget and a focused agency, and a commitment supported by the administration, you can't help but think there's going to be greater scrutiny and enforcement across all environmental programs."

Read the full release here and more about O'Toole here.

LA's Prosecutorial Misconduct

This sounds a lot like the WR Grace case in Montana! The Rove Racket drops the ball again.

From the LA Times:

George Torres' future looked pretty bleak: The supermarket mogul had been stripped of his riches by government prosecutors, convicted in a massive racketeering case and was awaiting a potential life sentence in federal prison. But in a stunning reversal of fortune Tuesday, the government released its grip on Torres' assets, a judge tossed out the most serious convictions against him, and he was ordered set free -- at least for now. The turnaround came after prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles turned over tape-recorded conversations that contained information that was potentially beneficial to Torres' defense regarding at least one key informant who testified against him.The taped conversations took place before Torres' trial in April but were only recently discovered by prosecutors, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Full story is here.

Acquitted

Yesterday, WR Grace was acquitted on all counts.

Why?

Prosecutorial misconduct. The Rove Racket failed again.

The Washington Post writes today, "The defense accused the government of failing to turn over evidence that would have undermined the credibility of a key prosecution witness. At issue were e-mails between the witness and members of the prosecution team. In court papers, the Justice Department called its lapse 'inexcusable.'"

Of course the U.S. Attorneys Office in Montana had no comment after losing their case.

(See our post below for more background).

More Prosecutorial Misconduct by U.S. Attorneys

The WR Grace trial is a beauty. The Rove Racket went after this company for environmental crimes in regards to an asbestos mine owned by WR Grace in Libby, Montana. The mine closed in 1990.

Although environmental pollution is a horrible thing, what is worse is the prosecutorial misconduct in this trial by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean (the man on the far right of the photo, copyright Associated Press).

McLean intentionally withheld email evidence from the defense. The email evidence was an exchange with the government's supposedly star witness. Sounds similar to the prosecutorial misconduct in the Ted Stevens case.

The AP writes this morning:

McLean opened with an apology for earlier failing to give defense lawyers copies of e-mails relevant in the defense of Robert Bettachi, one of the former executives. "That was my mistake," McLean said. "My mistake caused an interruption in this trial." U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy had told jurors not to consider the testimony of Robert Locke, a key prosecution witness involved in the e-mail communications, when considering the charges against Bettachi. The judge told jurors Wednesday to regard Locke's testimony cautiously when weighing the cases of other defendants. Molloy has broadly criticized the prosecution, at one point telling federal attorneys they did not understand the evidence they were presenting. Last week he dismissed charges against two former executives, shrinking the number still on trial to three, but he refused to end the trial on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. Motions to acquit remain pending, and Molloy said Wednesday that he would not rule on them before the jury returns verdicts.

Can you believe the judge told the Rove Racket they didn't understand their OWN evidence?

With a botched trial and prosecutorial misconduct, Molloy should contact U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's office as soon as the case concludes.

Read more about the WR grace case here and here.