This post is from Joel Ebert, who is covering the Don Blankenship trial with Ken Ward Jr.

It is very unclear what is happening this morning at this point. When I went to the courthouse just before 8 a.m. a lot of jurors were filing in.

As usual Blankenship arrived around 8:30. But instead of taking his usual route from the office of Spilman Thomas & Battle (up Goshorn St.), Blankenship and two of his lawyers – William Taylor and James Walls – walked on Truslow St.

When I came back to the office I wanted to find out how we are going to be obtain the trial exhibits each day. I called the clerk’s office who directed my inquiry to U.S. District Judge Irene Berger’s judicial assistant Karen Sword.

Sword told me that she believes the media will have to go to the defense and prosecuting attorneys each morning to obtain the trial exhibits. I told her that didn’t seem right and she agreed to check with the judge and call me back.

As of this writing I have not heard from her.

In addition, we are also trying to obtain a copy of the transcript from last night’s closed door meeting with Berger and the attorneys.

Between last night’s closed door discussion on several important motions related to the case and the fact that the media has continued to not have access to the proceedings things have gotten off to a bumpy start, to say the least.

UPDATE: 1:38 p.m.

Ken and I talked to both U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin and defense attorney William Taylor about the trial exhibits.

Goodwin indicated they would post the government’s exhibits on the U.S. Attorney’s website.

Taylor said he was uncertain as to exactly how they would be providing the media with documents. We plan to continue to follow up with Taylor on this subject.