UPDATE: Magistrate judge says judgment against coal baron Blankenship should be thrown out

Federal court documents show a magistrate judge is recommending a judgment made against coal baron Don Blankenship for conspiring to skirt mine safety laws be thrown out.

The judge claims that Blankenship’s right to due process was violated when evidence in the 2015 case was not presented to his legal team.

Blankenship appealed his case all the way to the US Supreme Court with no action. He spent a year in federal prison for the charge linked to the 2010 Upper Big Branch mining disaster that killed 29 coal miners.

(D. Blankenship / Facebook)