W.Va. justice sent 13 e-mails to Massey chief

The links included articles about an Ohio Muslim woman's battle to force her ex-husband to pay her dowry and on global warming. Other e-mails included links to a Huntington law firm, a Chamber of Commerce meeting agenda, a company's newsletter about a law involving more stringent penalties for people convicted of molesting children, at least two editorials and one column.

An index of the e-mails--all sent from Maynard to Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship between Jan. 30, 2006, and Nov. 6, 2007--was filed Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

Circuit Judge Duke Bloom will review the actual e-mails, filed separately in a sealed envelope, before deciding whether to release them.

The Associated Press sought the information as part of its coverage of Maynard's July 2006 vacation rendezvous with Blankenship in Monaco and southern France. The coal company had several cases pending or headed toward West Virginia's sole appeals court at the time.

Steve Canterbury, the court's administrative director, has said the documents were retrieved in January, then sealed after court officials decided to withhold the records under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The relationship between Maynard and Blankenship became public earlier this year when vacation photographs of the two were included in a request that the high court reconsider its November 3-2 decision overturning a multimillion-dollar judgment that Harman Mining Co. won against Richmond, Va.-based Massey in 2002. Maynard voted with the majority.

The photographs showed Maynard and Blankenship while they vacationed on the Riviera.

The Supreme Court later agreed to reconsider the case and Maynard recused himself from the rehearing. On rehearing the case, the court again voted 3-2 to overturn the jury verdict.

Maynard, who lost his re-election bid in May's Democratic primary, has said he will recuse himself from hearing all cases involving Massey Energy.