Rubashkin scores legal victory as charges are severed
By Chase Martyn 6/25/09 5:33 PM

U.S. District Judge Linda Reade ruled today that federal immigration and financial charges against Sholom Rubashkin were improperly joined, granting a request from the former Agriprocessors executive that paves the way for two separate trials.

The court’s ruling acknowledged that a jury would have a difficult time keeping all 142 federal charges against Rubashkin separate and that evidence presented to substantiate some charges could prejudice a jury’s decision on other, unrelated charges.

That means that prosecutors must try two cases, and that evidence from one trial may not be admissible in the other.

In an email to the Iowa Independent, Rubashkin’s attorney, Guy Cook, called the ruling a “very significant victoryâ€