South Carolina Lawyers Win Dismissal in High-Profile Federal Criminal Trial in Montana

COLUMBIA, SC – June 24, 2009 – Lawyers from South Carolina succeeded in clearing a Palmetto State man of all criminal charges in a high-profile case that’s been called one of the biggest environmental prosecutions in U.S. history.

William A. Coates, of Roe Cassidy Coates and Price, PA of Greenville, and Elizabeth Van Doren Gray, of Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte LLC of Columbia, represented South Carolinian William J. McCaig. All charges against him were dismissed before the case reached the jury in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont.

McCaig, along with six former co-workers and W. R. Grace & Co., had been indicted four years earlier on charges of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act and to defraud the government. 

A former manager at a W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont., McCaig and the others had been charged in a far-reaching indictment in February 2005.  The trial began Feb. 19, 2009 with jury selection.

The charges against McCaig were dropped April 30, after prosecutors had spent 10 weeks presenting the case to a jury. Only then did they determine that they did not have enough evidence against McCaig, and they asked the judge to dismiss the case against him with prejudice.

The judge promptly granted the motion and that let McCaig and his lawyers, who also included Tina Cundari of Sowell Gray, leave the courtroom and end what had been a four-year ordeal for the South Carolina man.

The former W.R. Grace employees and the company had been charged in connection with things that had happened some 30 years ago.  The government alleged that asbestos contamination associated with the W.R. Grace mine had sickened Libby residents.

William A. Coates

“I have always been confident that Mr. McCaig was innocent and that the charges were tenuous” Gray said.  “The allegations dated back to the 1970s and involved conduct that was not criminal at that time.  It is unfortunate that it took the government so long to realize that it simply did not have a case against our client.” 

After the charges against McCaig and another man were dismissed, the jury found three other men and the company not guilty on all charges.  “The verdict confirmed my faith in the justice system,” Gray said.  “This should never have been a criminal case, and the jury saw that.”

Preparation for the trial was time-intensive.  “The case required massive document reviews and factual investigation that took years,” Coates said.  “But the government never could prove the existence of any conspiracy.  Our client lived and worked in Libby, and that fact was completely inconsistent with the government’s theory that these defendants intended to conspire to endanger the residents of Libby.”

About Sowell Gray

Located in Columbia’s historic Vista district, Sowell Gray Stepp & Laffitte LLC provides business and litigation representation in all state and federal trial and appellate courts. Founded in 1996, the firm serves clients ranging from multi-national corporations to small businesses and individuals. For more information, please visit www.sowell.com.

About Roe Cassidy Coates & Price

Roe Cassidy Coates & Price, PA was founded in 2002.  The Greenville firm provides representation and counsel in all areas of litigation, alternative dispute resolution, real estate, business and corporate matters, as well as in bankruptcy and banking, employment and workers compensation and health law. For more information, please visit www.roecassidy.com.