CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Jury selection resumes Monday morning at the federal courthouse in Charleston in the Don Blankenship trial.
Blankenship, 65, the former president and CEO of Massey Energy, faces three federal criminal counts in connection with activity before and after the April 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County that killed 29 miners.
Jury selection began last Thursday. MetroNews Legal Analyst Harvey Peyton said it appeared good progress was made in the selection of 36 potential jurors that will form a panel that will be reduced by federal prosecutors and defense attorneys to the final 12.
Blankenship’s attorneys have pushed for a change of venue. Peyton doesn’t believe that will happen.
“I think the defense probably already sees there’s going to be a panel selected,” Peyton said.
That could happen by midweek. After that, it will be opening statements.
“I would suspect that the lead trial counsel that are going to be involved in opening statements are going to be reviewing documents, working on their timelines and working on a presentation that tells a story,” Peyton said.
The opening statements will set the tone for the trial, he said.
“You have to tell the jury–what is this case about–without arguing the case and without making statements that you can’t ultimately prove or support,” Peyton said. “Tell a story, set a theme. Whoever is going to do the opening, that’s what they are working on.”
Jury selection is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Monday.