CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend behind it the 12-member jury deliberating the Don Blankenship criminal trial will regather at the federal courthouse in Charleston Monday morning to resume deliberations.
U.S. District Judge Irene Berger gave the panel off Wednesday-Friday. The 8-women and 4-men have deliberated for nearly 30 hours over five full days. They didn’t ask the judge any questions about the case last week.
Blankenship, 65, the former Massey Energy CEO, is charged with conspiring to break federal mine safety laws at the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, allegedly pushing production over safety. He also allegedly defrauded shareholders and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission in a statement that came a few days after the April 2010 explosion at UBB that killed 29 miners.
The jury heard more than five weeks of testimony from two dozen witnesses. Judge Berger has called the panel stellar. It appears the jury is working hard, MetroNews Legal Analyst Harvey Peyton said.
“These are 8-women and 4-men who appear to be honest and trying to do a good job,” Peyton said. “If there were some shenanigans in the room, some sharp disagreements, I think we would have heard something, some note to the judge,” Peyton said.
Judge Berger has denied three defense motions for a mistrial. The judge said last week the evidence presented in the trial was complex and five days of deliberations didn’t match it. Judge Berger isn’t expected to step in, Peyton said.
“(Not) until they say they can’t agree. It’s in the hands of the jury right now. I would assume there reaches some point, just the passage of time, might imply a deadlock and the judge might inquire of the jury,” Peyton said. “We haven’t reached that point.”
Judge Berger also still has the Allen Charge option, which is an additional instruction from a judge to a jury urging it to make a decision.
Deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Monday.