By Taylor Kuykendall

Newly unsealed documents in the criminal trial of former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship reveal a number of details about the case, including suggestions from his defense team that the U.S. Attorney working the case may be guilty of misconduct.

Blankenship is facing a four-count indictment related to conspiracy to violate safety and health standards stemming from an investigation into an explosion that killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia. Blankenship pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court documents now open to the public detail Blankenship's attempts to have the trial moved, delayed or dismissed entirely.

A March 5 appeals court ruling vacating an amended sealing and gag order that was issued Jan. 7 opened up hundreds of pages of documents previously closed to the public. Assorted media outlets challenging the gag order asserted that U.S. District Judge Irene Berger's broad order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia was a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In a Feb. 6 filing, Blankenship's attorneys go after U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, suggesting the judge will have to determine if Goodwin is guilty of "serious misconduct" in deciding to prosecute Blankenship and in his presentation to the grand jury that ultimately indicted Blankenship.

"Mr. Goodwin is the son of the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin, an active judge in this district, and who, it is reasonable to assume, is a friend and colleague to his fellow judges," Blankenship's attorneys wrote in a motion seeking to move the case to a new court. "Given the political significance of this prosecution, its high visibility, the substantial factual basis for the misconduct allegations, the personal involvement of Mr. Goodwin, and his filial relationship with a district judge on this very court, neither this court, nor any other judge on the Southern District for West Virginia, can preside over this case."

Blankenship's attorneys also filed a simultaneous motion to dismiss the case for selective and vindictive prosecution. The filing claims to have five documented examples of the government using leading questions to mislead the grand jury.

"The motion for dismissal based upon selective and vindictive prosecution documents a series of events in which it is apparent that the decision to indict Mr. Blankenship was made to punish him for his exercise of his rights to criticize the government," the Feb. 6 filing states.

The filing further claims that a reasonable person would assume no colleague of Booth Goodwin's father "would want to be the instrument of his disappointment" and should therefore doubt the ability of the district's judges to be impartial.

"A reasonable, everyday person would assume a shared understanding of the feelings a father has for his son: a desire for him to succeed in a high profile case and a hope he will not be criticized," the filing states, adding that Blankenship's high profile adds an additional layer of personal and professional stakes to the case.

Goodwin dismissed the accusation as a "baseless theory" that "runs counter to well-settled law on judicial disqualifications and would produce sweeping and untenable results."

The motion would mean that even if Blankenship was not successful in having the case transferred to a new venue, his legal team would still hope a judge from outside of the district be assigned to the case.

In trying to delay the case, Blankenship's attorneys suggest that he was not even aware he would be charged or that he was a target of the investigation. According to the document, as recently as a year ago, the government had advised Blankenship's attorneys that he was not a target of the investigation.

Blankenship has also sought numerous exceptions to restrictions placed on his travel. In a Dec. 17, 2014 order, Blankenship was denied a request to travel to Las Vegas to spend time with his family and his fiancée's family from China.

"The court imposed the restriction upon defendant's travel and other restrictions in view of circumstances which indicate that defendant poses a significant risk of nonappearance at court proceedings in the future," the judge wrote. "While defendant has been cooperative thus far, the circumstances which led the court to impose the travel and other restrictions continue now and will continue to exist throughout these proceedings."

The U.S. Attorney noted in one filing that Blankenship has substantial international ties, particularly to China. According to that filing, Blankenship's significant other is the president and CEO of a company that, according to its website, has its principal office in Beijing, where, also according to the website, she is from.

Blankenship's attorneys dismissed these concerns as unjustified, noting that his fiancée has lived in the U.S. for nearly two decades. They also note that her parents' visit to Nevada for the holidays may be their last and that Blankenship's $5 million cash bond should be sufficient to ensure he continues to cooperate with the court.

The newly unsealed documents also reveal that Blankenship asked the court to lift restrictions on communicating with former Massey officials who could be potential witnesses.

"He even wants to give them gifts," the U.S. Attorney wrote. "This makes no sense. Defendant has a history of going to extreme lengths to seek influence where he believes he needs it, and now, as the court noted in setting his release conditions, he stands charged with grave offenses that likely will result in imprisonment if he is convicted. The evidence against him is strong."

Blankenship's attorneys suggest that the sort of contact he had wanted to make included continuing traditions he's maintained for between 15 and 20 years, such as giving out peaches to roughly 50 individuals including former Massey employees at Easter time.

"For roughly the same period, he regularly has sent other simple holiday gifts to a long and ever changing list of people, including several mothers — some elderly and widows — of former Massey employees," Blankenship's attorneys wrote in a Dec. 11, 2014, filing. "It is hard to fathom how these actions possibly could be perceived as endangering public safety. Under the current no-contact condition, Mr. Blankenship must not only halt these 'dangerous' traditions but also is prohibited from even contacting these individuals to explain why they no longer will be receiving these small gestures."

Blankenship and the government are also split on the timing of the case. The U.S. Attorney's office wants to move forward as quickly as possible, while Blankenship's attorneys are pushing for delay.

"Defendant seeks delay — and then more delay — in his pending motion concerning dates and deadlines," a Dec. 9, 2014, filing states. "He asks to more than double his time to file motions, and he wants to do away with the trial date altogether. A defendant who is out on bond, facing strong evidence against him, has plenty of reason to want delay. And it is always possible, in any case, criminal or civil, to put forth arguments that the sky will fall if things move forward on schedule."

Massey Energy was acquired by Alpha Natural Resources Inc. Alpha had been paying Blankenship's legal fees but recently indicated that it would discontinue doing so, resulting in a lawsuit by Blankenship.

Before Alpha made that announcement, the U.S. Attorney had noted in the Dec. 9, 2014, filing that as a result of Massey's commitments with Blankenship, "there is no limit to the amount that Alpha now must spend to fund [the] defendant's defense in this matter."

"Fortunately for the pace of this proceeding, [the] defendant has been able to hire the crème de la crème of criminal defense counsel: a large firm that employs scores of superb attorneys and can engage (as is typical for such firms) many additional attorneys as contractors to help quickly review documents," the filing states. "Five attorneys have already entered appearances on defendant's behalf, and there are doubtless others working behind the scenes to support them."