Judge Refuses To Drop Charges Against Rubashkin

Defense attorneys said alleged grand jury irregularities tainted the charges.

Judge refuses to drop charges against Rubashkin
BY GRANT SCHULTE • Des Moines Register

A federal judge refused to dismiss charges Thursday against a former Postville slaughterhouse executive and rejected claims that prosecutors abused their power to collect witness statements.

The ruling was a loss for Sholom Rubashkin, a one-time executive at the former Agriprocessors Inc. kosher meat plant in northeast Iowa.

Rubashkin's lawyers asked a judge in August to dismiss all 163 charges against Rubashkin, on the grounds that prosecutors improperly used grand jury hearings to "lock in" witness testimony. Defense lawyers, who were not present for the private hearings, argued they were not given the opportunity to cross-examine those witnesses.

The U.S. attorneys prosecuting Rubashkin opposed the request to dismiss charges. Their specific response, however, was filed under a court-ordered seal to keep details of the grand jury hearings confidential.

Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, said Rubashkin "denies the charges in spite of the ruling." Defense lawyers filed new papers Thursday asking U.S. District Judge Linda Reade to reconsider her decision.

Rubashkin and three lower-level managers are named in a 163-count federal indictment filed in July. The allegations, aimed mostly at Rubashkin and Agriprocessors, include bank fraud, immigrant harboring, mail and wire fraud, and failure to pay cattle producers in a timely manner.

Rubashkin has pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled to stand for the first of two trials on Oct. 13.

Agriprocessors Inc. was the site of a May 2008 immigration raid that snagged 389 illegal workers and led to state and federal charges against Rubashkin and other managers. The plant now operates under new management.

Sholom Rubashkin is currently in New York City so he can pray at the grave of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe during Rosh Hashana.

Comments

[sage]

+++ Defense lawyers filed new papers Thursday asking U.S. District Judge Linda Reade to reconsider her decision. +++

Judge Reade has already denied the first request to drop all charges against SMR.

Why do SMR's legal staff believe that she will change her mind?

They have the legal rights to request this, but for G-d's sake, give Judge Linda a break, for a change.

SMR will get a fair trial next month in front of an unbiased jury and what ever happens, happens.

[Hometown Postville]

I agree, Sage. Doesn't this fall under "frivolous"? Seems they are employing the "little engine that could" strategy. They are earning their billable hours!

[Shmarya]

What they're doing is laying grounds for a possible appeal.

[sage]

Then I suppose that the plan is, to appeal any guilty verdicts and tie up the Federal and Iowa Courts up for years, with SMR possibly permitted to be out on bail.

What a crock of sh-t !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shmarya]

It's not a crock. It is the way the justice system works.

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

I had to look up the background on this. It stems from that group of motions made at the end of August. This was the last motion to be decided. As the AP's Nigel Duara wrote on August 31st, "His attorneys said prosecutors abused the grand jury process by interviewing witnesses multiple times about facts they had already used to file charges."

I think it is a foregone conclusion that any guilty verdicts will be appealed all the way up to the US Supreme Court. It all depends upon how much money is available, including the funds that are being solicited from around the country, and if the appeals courts will agree to hear the case. I doubt any lawyer is going to do work on a pro bono basis on this case.

[sage]

I'll have to clarify.

The appeals process going on for years doesn't really bother me that much.

It's SMR being out on bail for all this time, if that's what happens, that, in my mind, makes it a crock of sh-t.

However, if he is put in jail for all this time, that's another story altogether.

[AGRI-vated Angel]

No need to clarify, Sage.

Regardless of the circumstances, Sholom, and his family, will always be tarnished. Sholom will never have his desired peace-filled life, as long as there is the possibility of incarceration 'looming' over his head. He will be known as . . . a 'squirming worm'.

[sage]

Thanks, AA.

But, I prefer that he is 'squirming like a worm' behind bars for life, than in the public sphere.

[sage]

BTW, AA, is there any updated news about how things are going in Postville?

[jake]

I may be wrong , but I beleive that it is rare that a perosn convicted in a federal trial gets to stay out on bail after the court has handed out the sentence. , during appeals .

I know somebody who has been sentenced, he ha sbegun to serve his term and his conviction is under appeal.

[sage]

Many thanks, Jake !!!!!!!

Your comment made my day !!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend !!!!!!!!

[mordecai]

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a criminal defende attorney and no fan of the Rubbish-cans. Though the criminal justice system is flawed, the defense has every right, should, and must defend Rubaskin with zeal. This does not make them scum-bags. I represent some very nasty characters. In fact there are people I represent that I despise. I would not want them to live next door to me or pet my cat. Does this make me a hypocrite. I think our system is better for the zealous lawyers that fight the dispropoortionate power of the government.

I do not know all the facts of the Rubshkin case. I would suspect that he is guilty of many of the 163 counts. But I also suspect that he is not guilty of many of the 163 counts and further consider that some of the charges may be exaggerated.

This is how the Feds operate; they lay into you heavily. They have a huge team of lawyers, FBI, investigators that latch onto you like leeches. No matter how much money Rubashkin has, he can NEVER equate that with the power of the government,

Let the wheels of justice turn. They will rurn slowly. We should rise to the better angels of our character and give Rubashkin his fair shot. In the end he will be convicted and spend time in a federal prison. Fighting the Feds is no walk in the park

Remember that the Feds you love today are the Feds that you will hate tomorrow. It just depends on whose ox is being gored (pardon the pun)

[Hometown Postville]

I appreciate your insight modecai- especially your statement about defending people whom "you wouldn't want your pets living beside." Few defense attorneys admit they feel this way in public, thus the expletives. Gives me newfound faith in the justice system.

[TheTruthAsItIs]

Mordecai

I, like Hometown Postville, also appreciate your insights as a defense lawyer.

Tell me, in your opinion, how strong a case does the Govt has against SMR. I get the impression they have a pretty good case.

And, if in fact the Govt does, how willing are they going to be to "cut a deal". There is all sorts of talk that SMR & his defense team will cut a plea deal in the last second. Which - I am not totally against ( so long as the sentencing is appropriate )

I just wonder though, if the Govt has a strong a case as I suspect, coupled with the fact that SMR's defense attnys have put up a rigourous defense, will the Feds be any mood to bargain?

Just would like your opinion on this Mordecai. Thanks

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

I'm also appreciative of Mordecai's reminder about how the justice really works. I hope that most people know, at some level, that the police and prosecutors lay it on and that the accused who really did it lie like rugs. But people who don't earn their living working in or reporting on the criminal justice get really worked up when they read things like the defendent wants all charges dropped. I was a juror on a civil case a while back. After cautioning both lawyers, who were stepping over the line, she turned to us jurors and said, "What the attorneys say is not evidence." But she said it in such a snarky way as to indicate to us that the lawyers even don't believe what they are telling us. I get the feeling every often her head comes near to exploding from hearing things that don't pass the 'ha-ha' test. But at the same time, society needs to rein in overzealous or just plain 'honestly guessed wrong' prosecutors.

Exactly one year before this entry, there was this post:
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2008/09/agriprocessor-4.html
about the new CEO sham. Now, what is the real reason why they can't find a impartial local jury?

[mordecai]

Thanks guys for your insightful comments. Don't know how strong a case the Feds have but I suspect that it is strong. Before they would arrest and charge a Rubshkin, they envisioned the shouts of anti-semitism. If they did not have strong evidence they would not have proceded, in my view, given the publicity and sensitive issues vis a vis the kosher meat industry. The Feds will enter a plea for any number of reasons. It is my perception that the State enters pleas often to save money, But the Feds (as opposed to the States) have nearly unlimited resources and I think their decisions are apt to be more political. For sure they do not want to be embarrassed. Prosecutorial authorities seem to become hardened the harder you fight. I have had prosecutors tell me that if I file a motion to suppress all pleas are off the table. Because Rubashkin is fighting hard, the Feds will come back even harder. Rubashkin will be toast; it will just take time.

[TheTruthAsItIs]

Mordecai

I have a tendency to agree with everythihg you said above.

I suspect, (though I will admit I have no way of knowing this for sure) - that the Feds may have cut SMR a deal early on if he would have turned on other family members( his brother Heshy being one of them)

But the "family" is everything to the Hasidic culture and, again say what you want about SMR, he wont turn on family.

I do agree, Mordecai, SMR will be toast - and I suspect sooner rather than later.

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

The defense filed a lawsuit Friday night demanding release of the ICE records of the raid:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090918/NEWS/90918046/-1/BUSINESS04&theme=/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=BUSINESS04