Cops and Courts

At the behest of prosecutors, a federal judge dropped charges against yet another defendant in the W.R. Grace & Co. trial Thursday morning, leaving three remaining defendants and the company to contest allegations of corporate pollution.

Late Wednesday afternoon, attorneys for William McCaig urged prosecutors to dismiss their client from the indictment, arguing that evidence presented over the past two months was not sufficient to convict the man beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors responded by again explaining their conspiracy theory, and said court-imposed restrictions on admissible evidence had made the task increasingly difficult.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy shot back, saying his decisions were based on the law, not on whimsy.

“I’m not making this up. I don’t go back in my chambers and say ‘Gee, how can I screw this thing up?’ I’m trying to follow the law,” Molloy said.

On Thursday morning, with no prompting from defense counsel or the court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kris McLean asked that the charges be dropped, a request that Molloy quickly granted. McCaig, who now lives in South Carolina, left the courtroom with his attorneys.

The prosecution team on Monday also dismissed a conspiracy charge against Robert C. Walsh, a former president with Grace.

Defense lawyers have announced they intend to present their last witnesses next Wednesday, and the case will likely go to the jury that same week.

In February 2005, seven former Grace executives were charged with conspiring to release asbestos fibers in Libby, and with concealing the known hazards of vermiculite mined for decades in the small town.

Since then, one defendant has died while another was severed from the larger trial, and is slated to be tried separately n a prospect that has grown increasingly unlikely.

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