Any day you can get out of jail early is a good day. But it remains very doubtful that Mary Wilkerson will get out even a day early. She has one year, seven months, and
Continue Reading
Appellate mandate ends biggest food safety criminal case in history
It’s over.
After 1,952 days in federal trial and appellate courts, the case of the United States versus Stewart and Michael Parnell et al is no longer active.
It became history Wednesday when David J.
Continue Reading
Peanut butter defendants get more time to file for rehearing
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has approved a motion giving more time for the Peanut Corporation of America criminal defendants to file petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc.
The new
Continue Reading
Top food safety stories include regs, recalls, respects this year
Editor’s Note: The Food Safety News list of the year’s most significant news is compiled annually by our writers and editors. The list for 2017 is not led by any one or two blockbuster food
Continue Reading
PCA appeal could impact future food safety prosecutions
The trial judge is as much on trial as the criminal defendants during an appeal, and a 97-minute session Tuesday in a federal appeals court in Atlanta was an illustration of how that system works.
Continue Reading
Appellate judges won’t release Wilkerson while awaiting appeal
The extended visiting hours for Memorial Day weekend at Federal Correction Institution (FCI) Marianna probably won’t be much consolidation for 43-year-old Mary Wilkerson, who was denied in her second request for release on bail.
She
Continue Reading
‘Fry them’ comments in jury room could get Parnells a new trial
The conduct of the 2014 jury that convicted Peanut Corporation of America executives delayed sentencing for about year, but in its final analysis the district court found a new trial based on jury misconduct was
Continue Reading
First of PCA convicted executives begins prison release process
Samuel Lightsey, 52, the former manager of the now defunct Peanut Corporation of America processing plant in Blakely, GA, has moved into a Residential Re-entry Management facility in Atlanta a step toward his release from
Continue Reading
Government responds to defense issues in PCA appeal
Prosecution and defense attorneys in the Peanut Corporation of America criminal case have found something they can agree upon. Both sides now say the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta needs to hear
Continue Reading
Appellants in PCA criminal case given more time to file briefs
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has set Oct. 5, 2016, as the deadline for appellants Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson, to file briefs. Originally they were due on June
Continue Reading
Parnell-Wilkerson appeals held up over access to trial exhibits
Everybody seems to agree the 900 or so exhibits from a 2014 jury trial should be turned over in one form or another to the three defendants who are appealing their sentences and convictions in
Continue Reading