A Mingo County judge overseeing a major pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy socializes "with some frequency" with Massey President Don Blankenship and should step down from the case, lawyers for hundreds of area residents argue in new court papers.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Mingo County judge overseeing a major pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy socializes "with some frequency" with Massey President Don Blankenship and should step down from the case, lawyers for hundreds of area residents argue in new court papers. (Click to read the motion.)
Mingo Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury also appointed his personal business partner -- a Williamson doctor with ties to Massey -- as administrator of a medical monitoring program meant to see if coal-slurry pollution of water supplies has made residents sick.
Kevin Thompson, attorney for the residents, said in court papers filed late Friday afternoon that the situation "is cronyism at its worst" and has "sinister overtones."
"[Thornsbury] must be disqualified, because he has a personal bias towards the defendants, has created an economic interest in the matter, and has given the appearance of impropriety causing his impartiality to be reasonably questioned," wrote Thompson, who was joined in filing the motion by Charleston lawyer Sherri D. Goodman, formerly the State Bar's chief lawyer disciplinary counsel.
Thornsbury said in an interview that the allegations against him were unfounded, and that he would respond in writing by Wednesday. The judge said he knows Blankenship but is not friends with him.
"I don't have any personal or social relationship with Mr. Blankenship," Thornsbury said.
The allegations against Thornsbury come in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself from a Massey case because Blankenship spent millions of dollars bankrolling Benjamin's election in 2004. In that same case, Justice Elliott Maynard was forced to recuse himself after photographs surfaced of him vacationing with Blankenship on the French Riviera.
In the Mingo County case, hundreds of residents of Rawl, Lick Creek, Merrimac and Sprigg allege that Massey's Rawl Sales & Processing subsidiary polluted their drinking water when it injected coal-slurry waste into underground mine workings.
Thornsbury has been overseeing the case since 2005. The judge denied the residents' motion to proceed as a class-action case, and earlier this year gave plaintiffs each just minutes to decide if they would accept or reject individual settlement offers made by Massey.
In early April, all parties to the case reached a "global settlement." But that deal fell apart weeks later, when Massey revealed its insurance funding had fallen through, court records indicate.
Among the allegations is that Thornsbury and Blankenship had lunch between the date the proposed settlement was reached, on April 10, and the settlement conference at which it fell apart, on April 30.
Thornsbury denied that. "That's false," the judge said. "That's just not true."
After the settlement fell through, Thornsbury negotiated a partial deal, setting up a multimillion-dollar medical monitoring program for residents. At a June 17 hearing, Thornsbury appointed Dr. C. Donovan Beckett of Williamson as administrator of that fund, along with Community Trust Bank Inc. as the trustee, according to the plaintiffs' recusal motion. Neither Beckett nor Community Trust had any expertise in managing a medical monitoring program, the recusal motion said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Mingo County judge overseeing a major pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy socializes "with some frequency" with Massey President Don Blankenship and should step down from the case, lawyers for hundreds of area residents argue in new court papers. (Click to read the motion.)
Mingo Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury also appointed his personal business partner -- a Williamson doctor with ties to Massey -- as administrator of a medical monitoring program meant to see if coal-slurry pollution of water supplies has made residents sick.
Kevin Thompson, attorney for the residents, said in court papers filed late Friday afternoon that the situation "is cronyism at its worst" and has "sinister overtones."
"[Thornsbury] must be disqualified, because he has a personal bias towards the defendants, has created an economic interest in the matter, and has given the appearance of impropriety causing his impartiality to be reasonably questioned," wrote Thompson, who was joined in filing the motion by Charleston lawyer Sherri D. Goodman, formerly the State Bar's chief lawyer disciplinary counsel.
Thornsbury said in an interview that the allegations against him were unfounded, and that he would respond in writing by Wednesday. The judge said he knows Blankenship but is not friends with him.
"I don't have any personal or social relationship with Mr. Blankenship," Thornsbury said.
The allegations against Thornsbury come in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin should have recused himself from a Massey case because Blankenship spent millions of dollars bankrolling Benjamin's election in 2004. In that same case, Justice Elliott Maynard was forced to recuse himself after photographs surfaced of him vacationing with Blankenship on the French Riviera.
In the Mingo County case, hundreds of residents of Rawl, Lick Creek, Merrimac and Sprigg allege that Massey's Rawl Sales & Processing subsidiary polluted their drinking water when it injected coal-slurry waste into underground mine workings.
Thornsbury has been overseeing the case since 2005. The judge denied the residents' motion to proceed as a class-action case, and earlier this year gave plaintiffs each just minutes to decide if they would accept or reject individual settlement offers made by Massey.
In early April, all parties to the case reached a "global settlement." But that deal fell apart weeks later, when Massey revealed its insurance funding had fallen through, court records indicate.
Among the allegations is that Thornsbury and Blankenship had lunch between the date the proposed settlement was reached, on April 10, and the settlement conference at which it fell apart, on April 30.
Thornsbury denied that. "That's false," the judge said. "That's just not true."
After the settlement fell through, Thornsbury negotiated a partial deal, setting up a multimillion-dollar medical monitoring program for residents. At a June 17 hearing, Thornsbury appointed Dr. C. Donovan Beckett of Williamson as administrator of that fund, along with Community Trust Bank Inc. as the trustee, according to the plaintiffs' recusal motion. Neither Beckett nor Community Trust had any expertise in managing a medical monitoring program, the recusal motion said.
Initially, insurance company lawyers had proposed a fixed payment for the administrator and trustee. But documents prepared by Massey's lawyers allowed "open-ended fees," the plaintiffs' court filings show.
In records filed with the recusal motion, Thompson revealed that Thornsbury and Beckett are partners in Williamson Renaissance Development Inc. The records also show that Thornsbury and Beckett are co-debtors on a $1.6 million deed of trust for the company at Community Trust Bank.
Further, the recusal motion alleges, Beckett has a contract through which his medical practice treats Massey employees.
The recusal motion alleged that Thornsbury was "providing himself with an economic interest by steering potentially large fees to his business partner."
Records also show that Beckett was campaign treasurer for Thornsbury's 2008 campaign. Among those who raised money for Thornsbury was the law firm Jackson Kelly, which represents Massey in the slurry case.
Numerous Jackson Kelly lawyers, including Albert Sebok and Robert McLusky, donated to Thornsbury's campaign. Thompson, the plaintiffs' lawyer, also donated $1,000, the records show. Jackson Kelly hosted a fundraiser that netted $7,000. Those who contributed included prominent plaintiffs lawyers who often sue coal companies, including Massey, such as Rudy DiTrapano and Guy Bucci.
Thompson wrote in his recusal motion, "It is in Judge Thornsbury's economic interest to throw business to Dr. Beckett.
"They are joint debtors on a large note secured by a Deed of Trust and are partners in an ongoing business enterprise," Thompson wrote. "Appointment of Dr. Beckett -- business partner and campaign manager -- is cronyism at its worst ... and a slap in the face to the Plaintiffs."
Beckett could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon, but Thornsbury said Beckett last week said he decided not to serve as administrator of the medical monitoring program. The judge said he had never actually entered an order appointing Beckett to the post. Thornsbury said he had also previously disclosed his relationship with Beckett to Thompson, the plaintiffs' lawyer, in a previous case.
As for Blankenship, attached to the recusal motion is a sworn statement from former Delbarton Police Chief Jack Spence that said he has "over the past several years ... witnessed" Thornsbury and Blankenship "sharing meals and socializing at Starter's," a restaurant down the street from the Mingo County Courthouse in Williamson.
For example, Spence said, "In March of 2009, I personally witnessed Judge Michael Thornsbury and Don Blankenship together at Starter's at approximately 7 p.m. Judge Thornsbury rose from the table and exited the restaurant through the rear entrance. I left the premises before Don Blankenship exited the restaurant."
Jeff Gillenwater, a spokesman for Massey, said the company would respond to the allegations through a formal court filing.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.
Post a comment