Judge denies request to move Agriprocessors trial out of Iowa to Minneapolis or Chicago

A federal judge Wednesday denied a request by a kosher slaughterhouse and its former manager to move their trial out of Iowa because of pretrial publicity the manager's lawyer has called "inflammatory, accusatory, and one-sided."

In her order denying the motion for a change of venue, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda Reade said that, for now, Agriprocessors Inc. and former manager Sholom Rubashkin are able to get a fair trial in Iowa.

"The court is unable to hold that the pretrial publicity was so extensive and corrupting as to Defendants Rubashkin and Agriprocessors that unfairness of a constitutional magnitude must be presumed," Reade wrote.

She said there is substantial gap between the zenith of bad press in the case and the trial scheduled for September.

However, Reade pointed out that the company and Rubashkin presented some media reports that "are troubling and bolster" their arguments, and she acknowledged that pretrial publicity could intensify as the trial approaches.

Reade said she will allow the change of venue issue to be raised again when jury questionnaires are returned.

Rubashkin, the former manager of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville in northeast Iowa, had asked that his trial be moved from the Northern District of Iowa in Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis or Chicago. He faces nearly 100 charges, including immigration violations along with bank fraud and money laundering charges.

Agriprocessors, which also faces nearly 100 charges, joined in the motion for a change of venue last month.

Charges against the company, Rubashkin and others followed a May 12 immigration raid at the plant, then the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse. Agents arrested 389 people.

In arguing for the change of venue, Rubashkin's lawyer, Guy Cook, listed a number of media reports as exhibits and expressed particular concern about a newspaper essay last year written by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, in which the governor calls on the state's attorney general to promptly prosecute the case.

Cook argued that the publicity generated by the raid has essentially focused on Rubashkin and has been "inflammatory, accusatory, and one-sided, which has infected the potential jury pool."

Cook also noted that media reports mistakenly labeled his client, a former vice president, as the former chief officer of the company, even though he argues that Rubashkin never had "the type of control the pretrial publicity suggests."

Another defendant in the case, Brent Beebe, resisted the motion for a change of venue, asking the court to adopt a "wait-and-see" approach and try to find a fair and impartial jury in Iowa.

Beebe presented a number of arguments that moving the trial would cause him difficulties, including the expense of transporting and lodging defense witnesses.

Prosecutors also resisted the motion. They encouraged the court to find other ways to ensure a fair trial, including the use of jury questionnaires, assembling a large jury pool and allowing attorneys more ability to strike potential jurors from the panel.

In her order, Reade left the option open for Agriprocessors and Rubashkin to renew their request, saying she would entertain arguments on moving the trial within the Northern District of Iowa after jury questionnaires are returned.

Cook told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the case is developing and there could be additional adverse publicity as the trial nears, adding that he was pleased the court noted that as a possibility.

"We appreciate the court's careful review of the record, including that some of the materials we submitted are troubling and bolster our argument, but at the moment she declines to presume prejudice ... but the defense continues," he said.