United States Ninth Circuit

In an interlocutory appeal brought by the government following its indictment of a mining company and seven executives on charges arising from defendants' allegedly polluting actions, various orders adverse to the government are reversed in part, specifically: 1) an order dismissing a knowing endangerment object of one count's conspiracy charge in the superseding indictment is reversed; 2) an order adopting the regulatory definition of asbestos used for civil regulation is reversed, and instead the definition in the criminal statute will apply; 3) the government's request for a writ of mandate is granted on one issue; and 4) the exclusion of certain documents and historic testing as bases underlying an expert's opinion or testimony is also reversed.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/04/2007
• Decided 09/20/2007
• Published 09/20/2007

Judges

• BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:, Before:  B. FLETCHER, HARRY PREGERSON, and WARREN J. FERGUSON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Todd S. Aagaard, Dept. of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC, and Kris A. McLean, Assistant United States Attorney, Missoula, MT, argued for the government.   With them on the briefs were Sue Ellen Wooldridge, Assistant Attorney General;  William W. Mercer, United States Attorney;  Eric E. Nelson, Linda Kato, Special Assistant United States Attorneys;  Kevin M. Cassidy, and Allen M. Brabender, Attorneys, United States Dept. of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division.


• For Appellees:
  
• Christopher Landau, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee W.R. Grace & Co. With him on the brief were Laurence A. Urgenson, Tyler D. Mace, Michael D. Shumsky, Washington, DC;  Stephen R. Brown, Charles E. McNeil, Kathleen L. DeSoto, Missoula, MT, for defendant-appellee W.R. Grace & Co.;  Angelo J. Calfo, Seattle, Washington;  Michael F. Bailey, Missoula, MT, for defendant-appellee Alan R. Stringer;  Ronald F. Waterman, Helena, MT;  David S. Krakoff, Gary A. Winters, Washington, DC, for defendant-appellee Henry A. Eschenbach;  Mike Milodragovich, W. Adam Duerk, Missoula, MT;  Mark Holscher, Jeremy Maltby, Los Angeles, CA, for defendant-appellee Jack W. Wolter;  Palmer Hoovestal, Helena, MT, Elizabeth Van Doren Gray, Columbia, SC, William A. Coates, Greenville, SC, for defendant-appellee William J. McCaig;  Brian Gallik, Bozeman, MT, Thomas C. Frongillo, Boston, MA, Vernon S. Broderick, New York, NY, for defendant-appellee Robert J. Bettacchi;  C.J. Johnson, Missoula, MT, Stephen A. Jonas, Robert Keefe, Boston, MA, for defendant-appellee O. Mario Favorito;  Catherine A. Laughner, Aimee M. Grmoljez, Helena, MT, Stephen R. Spivack, Washington, DC, David E. Roth, Birmingham, AL, for defendant-appellee Robert C. Walsh.