Belin McCormick Client Acquitted in Landmark Child Labor Case
In what is believed to be the largest child labor prosecution in state history, Belin McCormick attorneys Mark Weinhardt and Holly Logan, along with F. Montgomery Brown of Brown Scott, P.L.C., conducted the successful defense of Sholom Rubashkin, former manager of the Agriprocessors kosher meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa. On June 7, 2010 a Black Hawk County jury acquitted Mr. Rubashkin of all 67 counts alleged against him.
At the beginning of the trial, the State of Iowa charged Mr. Rubashkin with 83 counts of child labor violations. At the close of the state’s case, Mr. Rubashkin’s attorneys convinced the judge to dismiss 16 of these charges. Mr. Rubashkin’s acquittal on the remaining 67 counts came at the end of a five-week trial.
In his closing arguments, Mr. Weinhardt emphasized that the state had the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rubashkin acted deliberately, intentionally and knowingly in permitting child laborers at the Agriprocessors plant. Mr. Weinhardt argued that the state had not met this burden, because the State had failed to introduce evidence showing that Mr. Rubashkin knew or intended for child laborers to work in the plant.
The jury foreman told reporters that the standard of proof was the decisive issue in the case and that the jury was convinced that the state had not met this standard. The jury foreman also told reporters that the jury was mostly in agreement throughout its 12-hour deliberation and was swayed by testimony given by defense witnesses which showed that Agriprocessors executives fired workers when they discovered the workers were underage.
Mr. Weinhardt and Ms. Logan had earlier represented Aaron Rubashkin, Sholom Rubashkin’s father and former owner of Agriprocessors, in the same case. After extensive pretrial motions from the defense, the state agreed to drop all charges against Aaron Rubashkin. Mr. Weinhardt and Ms. Logan then joined Sholom Rubashkin’s defense shortly before trial.
The Rubashkin child labor trial garnered national media attention. The links below include some of the highlights of this coverage.
