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ASBESTOS LITIGATION: Trial to March 9 W.R. Grace Suit Delayed
A juror's illness delayed the trial to an asbestos-related case involving W. R. Grace & Co. that was scheduled on March 9, 2009, The Associated Press reports.
With the jury absent, defense lawyers sought to exclude the expert testimony of another government witness.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy excused jurors for the morning to determine if an alternate juror would need to be selected. However, he told lawyers to meet back in the courtroom after lunch, the Missoulian newspaper reported on its Web site.
Grace and five individual defendants filed a motion on March 8, 2009 to exclude the expert testimony of Dr. Aubrey Miller, an investigator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a key witness for the prosecution.
The defense was successful earlier in limiting the testimony of another key witness, Paul Peronard, who served as the EPA's onsite coordinator in Libby after the town's asbestos contamination came to light a decade ago.
Grace's lawyers said Dr. Miller, as with Mr. Peronard, should not be allowed to discuss issues of public endangerment because "it does not fit the legal issue that the Government hopes to prove through its introduction at trial" -- that the defendants placed others in imminent danger by causing releases of asbestos into the air after Nov. 3, 1999, the Missoulian reported.
Grace and five of its one-time officials are charged with a federal conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations and obstruction of justice.
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Lloyd's Asbestos Litigation Reporter
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