Jury Seated In Rubashkin Child Labor Case, Trial Starts Monday

A round of applause broke out after the court finished the first phase of jury selection in the state’s child labor case against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.

Rubashkin jury selected; trial to start Monday

By JEFF REINITZ • Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

WATERLOO --- Court officials seated a jury in the state's child labor case against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin this afternoon.

Associate District Court Judge Nathan Callahan swore in eight people --- six jurors and two alternates --- shortly after 3 p.m. and admonished them to not discuss the case or seek out information about it.

The jury is composed of 5 women and 3 men.

Callahan told jurors to return to the courtroom at 8:45 a.m. Monday.

EARLIER STORY:

WATERLOO --- A round of applause broke out after the court finished the first phase of jury selection in the state's child labor case against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.

Individual questioning of a panel of 14 prospective jurors ended at about 2:10 p.m. today. Panelists had been brought behind closed doors one at a time for interviews.

But enthusiasm among the remaining people in the jury pool quickly subsided as the next phase started.

Attorneys for the state and the defense will pose general questions to the panel in open court. If a panelist is excused for cause, another person from the larger pool is brought in to take their place.

Deputy Attorney General Thomas Henry Miller began by asking if any members of the panel of 14 were familiar with attorneys involved in the case.

He said former Agriprocessors human resources employees Laura Althouse and Elizabeth Billmeyer may be called as witnesses and asked potential jurors if they knew them or if they would have trouble considering testimony from people who entered into agreements with the government in exchange for leniency.

Miller also asked panelist if they had experience working in slaughterhouse operations. Two initially indicated they had.

EARLIER STORY:

WATERLOO --- Jury selection continued in the state's child labor case against former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.

The court is working toward seating a jury of six with two alternates.

Some 45 people were called for jury selection, and about five were excused following closed-door interviews with individual jurors Tuesday.

Another 30 people were added to the larger pool this morning, and the closed-door interviews continued.

By the noon break today, the court was nearing the end of the closed-door portion of the jury selection process, and the pool was told to report back at 1:30 p.m.

Officials said they plan to pick a jury and then recess until Monday when opening statements are slated to start.

Prospective jurors have been reading and making small talk during the wait. The judge has prohibited them from using cell phones and other electronic devices in the courtroom.

Members of Rubashkin's family also have been in the courtroom during jury selection.

Rubashkin, 50, is charged with 83 misdemeanor counts of child labor violations, and prosecutors said minors worked at Agriprocessors' Postville plant near dangerous machinery and toxic chemicals.

An attorney for the corporation entered a guilty plea to charges against the company on Tuesday. Attorney Mark Weinhardt said the plea didn't reflect on the knowledge or intent of Sholom Rubashkin or his father, Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, who is another corporate officer, but instead on others at the plant.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the case, dropped charges against Abraham Aaron Rubashkin and human resources employee Laura Althouse.

Charges against human resources workers Elizabeth Billmeyer and Karina Freund were separated for further proceedings at a later date. Assistant Attorney General Thomas H. Miller said the state had worked out agreements with the two.

Comments

[sage]

My gut feel about this trial is, that the main thrust for the Prosecution, is going to be the testimony from the 8 former child workers, concerning the abuses they suffered at the plant.

Child abuse has been reported, as something taken very seriously by the State of Iowa.

This may not bode very well for SMR's prospects.

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

It looks like the WCF is going to cover the trial live:
http://wcfcourier.com/html_12459406-5884-11df-a07a-001cc4c002e0.html

Chat will probably be restricted to WCF journalists. One of the newspapers did this for the first Agriprocessors bankruptcy auction. They quit blogging when it became obvious there were no bidders with cash-on-the-barrelhead to buy the company with.

[Bill]

This trial is extremely important.

There is a good chance that Chabad will secure a pardon for SMR on the federal convictions.

Thus, this state trial is more determinative in terms of how much time SMR will actually spend in prison.

[sage]

+++ There is a good chance that Chabad will secure a pardon for SMR on the federal convictions. +++

Hi Bill,

How to you think that Chabad could pull this off and whom do you think would offer the pardon?

IMHO, any politician who offers him a pardon is commiting political suicide.

[Bill]

Sage,

One pulls off a pardon by making backdoor implicit deals with politicians, i.e., by bribing them with votes and/or donations.

Chabad has access to both of these things and will undoubtedly try to get a pardon from the next Republican president.

A lot of shady people get pardoned by outgoing presidents. In my mind, SMR is an ideal candidate in this regard.

[mordecai]

Chabad can provide lots of votes. But I am not so certain they want to use their political chips on Rubashkin. After all how will Rubashkin's pardon bring money into Chabad coffers? And the next time Chabas comes-a-calling, the politicians may not be so receptive. Chabad's political power is overblown in my view.

I hope it is not true that Rubashkin was abusing children at his plants. It seems that this story and the allegations get worse and worse.

One wonders had Rubashkin followed ethical business practices would profit have fallen so dramatically?

[OMG]

Thanks FGBA for the link.

[yidandahalf]

I do not see the Rubish-an matter related to Chabad in a monetary sense. It is simply a matter of the fabric of haredi Judaism's being maintained. I believe that the haredi world, in particular Big Chabad sees this landmark case as having potentially very dangerous repercussions to the cohesion they believe they have realized for "Judaism". Rubash-in is their poster child, if he falls everyone will see the emperor's nakedness.

[Bill]

Yid x 1.5,

I agree with you 100%.

Rubashkin, to them, is poster child of someone who did well by doing good. To them, SMR may have disobeyed human secular laws, but all "leshem shamayim" - for Heaven's sake.

SMR is riding this wave and exploiting his mascot status to perfection. He will continue to raise money for chabad for as long as he can dream up new halachic shenanigans while in prison.

The setting, "goyish" Iowa, is perfect for this drama.

[state of disgust]

Chabad can't provide electoral college votes. That's all that matters. They are not going to elect Obama and NY is too big to be impacted by their relatively small numbers. The king has no clothes.

[Bill]

SOD,

They can deliver Florida in a tight election - anyone can.

[faivel]

Would a jury of 6 christians be a fair assessment of "judged by your peers" when the case is against an devout religious Muslim???

Can you tell me that is some hick-town in Iowa, you can find a jury that would be the "peers" of a religious Ultra Orthodox Hassidic Jew??? most have never seen a religious, let alone a bearded Hassidic Jew in their life.... they probably think religious Jews have horns... they have absolutely NOTHING in common...

is this a fair trial by your peers???

Just wondering...

[faivel]

Seattle, WA - Court: Inmate Denied Torah Can Sue Organization

http://www.vosizneias.com/54843/2010/05/05/seattle-wa-court-inmate-denied-torah-can-sue-organization

[A E ANDERSON]

VOODOO VOIR DIRE!

" . . . asked potential jurors if they . . . would have trouble considering testimony from people who entered into agreements with the government in exchange for leniency."

In other words, do you mind if the prosecution suborns its witnesses with legal payoffs?

[A E ANDERSON]

How could Habad get a pardon for Rubashkin?

HA, HA, HA!

It would take more than a billionaire donor. More than a photo op with 1,000 rabbis. Maybe if they changed their tune on settlements, and delivered a viable settlement freeze from Bibi, then Obama would have to consider a pardon in the name of world peace. Short of that surreal scenario, I can't imagine a pardon from Obama. Wrong party, for starters.

I think a re-trial is far more likely. There's gotta be heaps of reversible error in that mess of a federal trial. Anyway, that's where I'd place my wager.

[A E ANDERSON]

Habad's political clout does not come about because it provides votes. It's really far more multi-layered and nuanced.

First, Habad provides Jewish community support to pols when the formal (and often officially liberal) Jewish community or federation withholds it or favours another candidate.

Habad is well connected with a certain stratum of the American Jewish middle class, who provide essential financial support for pols who are always campaigning. A salaried professional allied with the Reform temple might only be able to donate $100 or so. A small business owner of the type likely to be in the Habad orbit, can cough up more cash, often in bundles.

Visually, Habad seems more Jewish, so a publicity photo with a bearded Habad rabbi is far more powerful than a similar photo showing politician with largely similar non-Ortho temple types.

Habad delivers. When Avremel Shemtov stages a Capital Hill event with 4 or 5 Forbes list billionaires, Itzhak Perelman, Elie Wiesel, Adin Steinsaltz and the media horde that comes with that, pols of every stripe literally fall down over each other crossing the aisle to show themselves and pay homage. How in the world do you think they got a Congressional Gold Medal for the Rebbe?!

Yes, Habad is powerful. It is influential. But it cannot perform miracles. And a pardon for Rubashkin -- or pretty much anybody in this era of harsh law and order -- really would be on the order of a miracle.

[Abracadabra]

Skver got a presidential pardon for their 3 guys in jail (who stole millions from the Federal Gov't) because the Sverer Rebbe offered a huge block vote for Hillary Clinton for New York Senator.

If Skver could do it, why can't Chabad?

The only possibility as to why they possibly couldn't pull it off is because there is no Rebbe of Chabad right now (yes, he is dead, zichrono l'vracha) who can promise a block vote (on a college electoral or any other level) and then make a declaration to his followers to get out and vote for _________.

With no Rebbe, I'm not sure how they could pull that kind of thing off. Except that they seem to be managing just fine, and there are powerful people who run the show at Chabad and perhaps they are capable of organizing themselves with declarations of who to vote for and therefore be able to promise to deliver a block vote to someone up there who has pull with the presidential pardons.

Besides, by the time Obama is finished with his presidency, he will be perceived to be Anti-Israel, which is perceived as synonymous with Anti-Semitic. And then what better way to prove he is NOT Anti-Semitic than to pardon a religious Jew (or two)?

[big brother]

You guys have no idea what you are talking about. chabad offers not a single thing to any potential political candidate and certainly no candidate would want anything to do with them after the SMR backing. There are perhaps 200,00 chabad people in the USA hardly enough to influence anything. Are any of you educated?

[shmaryahu is like paroh [loves to bathe in jewish blood]]

shmaryahu,you dirty rat,what do you want from this family? haven't you had enough of their blood?
i have no doubt at all,have you lived 65 yrs ago in Europe,you would have been the head KAPO in Auschwitz,and with a smile on your ugly face you would have dragged your own brothers and sisters into the gas chambers