Manchin Scrutinized for DuPont Brief (Updated)

The New York Times cites e-mails and other records to question Gov. Joe Manchin's decision to weigh in on the pending appeal of a nearly $400 million judgment against DuPont.

The Associated Press first reported last month that Manchin had filed a "friend of the court" brief urging West Virginia's Supreme Court to accept the chemical giant's petition.

Manchin's brief did not ask the justices to rule one way or the other, but rather urged them to ensure that such a case involving punitive damages received a full review.

"Documents from the governor’s office, however, show that Mr. Manchin had consulted with the company before filing the brief, and DuPont officials say the governor even asked them to provide him with a draft brief," The New York Times reports.

The article also quotes Professor Stephen Gillers, who teaches legal ethics at New York University School of Law. He said "it was unusual and inappropriate for the governor, instead of the attorney general, to get involved in such a case, and that after searching state court records, he could find no example of a similar intervention by a governor."

Update: AP also reports on Manchin's contacts with DuPont. Among other information, AP's Vicki Smith relays that "nine of the 24 legal citations in the state's brief are also in DuPont's. Both briefs address the question of whether punitive damage awards should be automatically appealed."

Smith covered the 2007 trial, and recently reported that plaintiffs in the case were stung that Manchin as well as the West Virginia State Medical Association had each filed briefs in the case.

The later group, a leading advocate of lawsuit and jury award limits, objected to the inclusion of CT scans in the medical monitoring aspect of the case but did not suggest an alternative.

Update II: The Charleston Gazette follows up with word that lawyers for the plaintiffs have asked the Supreme Court to reject Manchin's brief.

Reporting that Manchin's brief "did include nearly identical arguments" to ones in a draft brief provided his office by DuPont, this article also notes that DuPont had suggested in a separate draft brief that the governor stress that the company has sought to be a good corporate citizen.

But Carte Goodwin, the governor's counsel, "declined to include those arguments, or any discussion of the merits of the case, in Manchin's friend-of-the-court brief," The Gazette reported. "Also, Goodwin declined DuPont's suggestion that he defend the state Department of Environmental Protection, which during trial was accused of helping DuPont avoid a more thorough cleanup of the Spelter site."