CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The chief justice of the state Supreme Court agreed Friday to remove himself from a pending case involving Massey Energy Co., days after vacation photos surfaced showing him in Monaco with the coal producer's top executive.
Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard said he was stepping down from the matter "despite the fact that I have no doubt in my own mind and firmly believe I have been and would be fair and impartial in this case."
But in his statement, Maynard said that "it has now become an issue of public perception and public confidence in the courts."
Maynard helped form a 3-2 majority in November that overturned a multimillion- dollar judgment against Richmond, Va.-based Massey that another company, Harman Mining, and its president, Hugh Caperton, had won in a contract dispute. Caperton had asked Maynard to step down from the case before the high court reconsiders that ruling. With interest, the damages are worth $76.3 million.
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"It's unfortunate that the motion had to be filed," Bruce Stanley, a lawyer for Caperton, said Friday. "It's even more unfortunate that it took this long to get to this point."
Stanley also suggested that Maynard's recusal should negate his vote on the ruling, leaving it a 2-2 tie affirming the 2002 verdict.
A lawyer for Massey, D.C. Offutt, called that analysis absurd.
"I don't think it can act retrospectively," Offutt said.
Lawyers for Harman and Caperton have argued that Maynard had previously failed to disclose his ties to Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship. Offutt noted that their friendship was raised in an unsuccessful bid for Maynard's recusal in a 2004 case involving flood litigation.
"The relationship between Justice Maynard and Blankenship has been known for a long time," Offutt said. "They sat on this until they got these pictures."
The photos of Maynard and Blankenship together in Monaco in 2006 were included in a revised court motion filed Monday.
