MISSOULA – Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean says a key expert witness in the case against W.R. Grace & Co. will not take the stand for the prosecution as was earlier planned, which will significantly shorten the government’s case.
Columbia, Md.-based Grace and five former executives are charged with knowingly exposing the residents of the small town of Libby to asbestos, a substance linked to cancer.
McLean told the court Wednesday the government will likely rest its case early next week.
The government canceled the testimony of Christopher Weis, a toxicologist for the Environmental Protection Agency, after Grace attorney David Bernick announced he would seek to exclude the testimony because it would overlap the testimony of other expert witnesses.
The Missoulian newspaper reported the development on its Web site Wednesday evening.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said he anticipated the prosecution would rest by Tuesday of next week. Molloy indicated court will be adjourned for the rest of the week, as he travels out of state for a prior family commitment.
On Tuesday evening, the defense team filed a motion to exclude Weis’ testimony and on Wednesday McLean capitulated without filing a counter argument.
The basis for McLean’s decision not to push for Weis’ testimony is unclear. A gag order precludes any of the parties from discussing the case, but Wednesday’s action came after Molloy last week told the government to “move the case along.”
The prosecution team has recently opted not to call a number of other witnesses, and instead submitted brief synopses of their anticipated testimony.
Two witnesses, Jim Morey and John Kratofil, did not take the stand on Monday after McLean read a two-sentence statement explaining that they would have testified about how asbestos-tainted vermiculite tailings from the Libby mine were used to build a high school track in Libby.
Several other lay witnesses also were not called, with McLean explaining that their testimony had already been adequately covered.
A hearing is scheduled Friday to determine whether another important government witness perjured himself.