BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) - Federal prosecutors are opposing another push by former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship to delay his Oct. 1 trial start.
In Beckley federal court Tuesday, prosecutors wrote that Blankenship wants to postpone the trial to review "largely irrelevant documents" that he requested.
Defense attorneys filed a motion Friday to postpone the trial until at least January. They say they received from prosecutors 72,700 pages of records from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. They say it's impossible for them to review the records before Oct. 1.
Prosecutors called it a tactic to seek delay.
Blankenship is charged with violating mine safety standards at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, where a 2010 explosion killed 29 men. Judge Irene Berger will oversee the trial in Charleston.