Judge Hearing Sholom Rubashkin’s Agriprocessors Appeal Rebukes Defense on Juror Contacts

By JTA October 2, 2013

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

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