Judge Hearing Sholom Rubashkin’s Agriprocessors Appeal Rebukes Defense on Juror Contacts
A federal judge reprimanded an attorney working on behalf of jailed former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.
In a meeting Tuesday, U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade told the attorney that interviews of jurors in Rubashkin’s 2009 trial on bank fraud charges cannot be used for future appeals or other court proceedings, according to The Gazette, a newspaper based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Reade met with attorneys from both Rubashkin and the government.
The court’s rules require a trial judge to consent before attorneys talk to jurors before, during and after a trial. Reade ordered the interviews to be sealed. Rubashkin’s attorney said nothing in the interviews was helpful.
Reade also told both sets of attorneys that it will take her some time to hear Rubashkin’s appeal, saying she has other appeals to consider first, according to The Associated Press. Rubashkin, who headed what once was the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse and packing plant, was convicted in 2009 on 86 counts of financial fraud. He is serving his term in a federal prison in New York State.
As part of the appeal, Rubashkin is claiming that the U.S. government interfered with the sale of Agriprocessors, making it sell for a lower price
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Fast Forward Jewish Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky reportedly to retire after 26 years in office
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.