The Latest: Jurors recess without verdict for ex-coal CEO
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The latest in the federal criminal trial of ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. All times local:
5:10 p.m.
Jurors have recessed after their third full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in the trial of ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.
They began deliberating for about an hour Tuesday and continued all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Jurors will have the day off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during Thanksgiving week.
Blankenship is charged with conspiring to break safety laws and defrauding mine regulators at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch Mine, and lying to financial regulators and investors about safety. The mine exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.
Prosecutors contended that Blankenship was a micromanager who meddled in the smallest details at the mine, and cared more about money than safety.
Blankenship's defense team said the government offered no evidence he was involved in a conspiracy.
The jury returns to continue deliberating Monday morning.
3:30 p.m.
A judge has denied a motion for a mistrial as jurors continue deliberating in the federal trial of ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.
Defense attorney William Taylor contended that because many jurors face a round trip to court of two hours or longer and they want to be sure they are home for Thanksgiving, they would be coerced into reaching a verdict.
U.S. District Judge Irene Berger denied the motion and said jurors may have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off next week.
Jurors also asked the judge about the meaning of a word in a Massey press statement to investors and federal financial regulators that's included in the second and third counts of the indictment. Berger said she could not provide additional guidance.
Berger also said a member of the press tried to talk to two jurors, but the contact was minimal.
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1 p.m.
The Associated Press is asking a judge to make public the names and addresses of jurors in ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's trial.
The AP filed its motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.
The motion says criminal trial juror names and addresses are part of the public record as soon as the jury is selected. The jury was picked at the trial's start, Oct. 1.
The information has not yet been disclosed, even though AP and other media have previously requested it. The motion says there's no constitutionally valid reason to withhold the juror list.
Jury deliberations, which began Tuesday, continued on Friday.
Blankenship faces multiple criminal charges stemming from alleged safety violations at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch Mine. It exploded in 2010, killing 29 men.