WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A judge has rejected a motion for a mistrial after an Agriprocessors Inc. supervisor testified he received death threats at work.
Defense attorneys asked for the mistrial Tuesday on the second day of the child labor violation trial of the former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin in Black Hawk County. They claimed Matt Derrick's testimony about the alleged threats unfairly painted Rubashkin and Agriprocessors as a corrupt criminal organization.
Rubashkin faces 83 counts of child labor violations,stemming from a May 2008 raid at the Postville plant in which 389 illegal immigrants, including children, were detained.
Derrick says when he told his supervisor about a written threat found in his locker, his supervisor tossed it in the garbage.
Earlier, Derrick testified that he told Rubashkin about underage workers but that Rubashkin ignored him.
