Perhaps I am naïve, but I would expect an attorney, especially one who is regarded highly enough to also be an elected official, to not make statements that could be considered libelous.
But when Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced via a press release that the state had gained $35 million from its lawsuit that alleges poultry companies conspired to drive up the price of chicken, it appears he did just that.
You be the judge. Here’s a statement attributed to Ferguson: “If you bought chicken in the last several years, you paid more for that chicken than you should have because of the illegal conduct from these companies. This is yet another milestone in our case against the companies involved in this conspiracy — but we are not done. They drove up the price of chicken and cheated hardworking Washingtonians. Antitrust laws protect consumers when company executives conspire to rig the system. I will hold all of the conspirators accountable.”
That seems like pretty inflammatory statement to me.
Yes, the state was able to collect funds from Pilgrim’s Pride, Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Koch Foods, Peco Foods, Mountaire Farms, George’s, Mar-Jac Poultry, Amick Farms, Fieldale Farms, Case Foods, O.K. Foods and Harrison Poultry.
However, to my knowledge, Pilgrim’s Pride was the only company to plead guilty to such allegations. Other companies offered to settle, but stated that in doing so they were not admitting to any wrongdoing, but rather just wanted to not have to deal with the distractions of a lawsuit.
It is worth noting that charges were brought against past and present poultry industry executives Jayson Penn, Bill Lovette, Mikell Fries, Scott Brady, Roger Austin, Timothy Mulrenin, William Kantola, Jimmie Little, Rickie Blake, Gary Roberts, Jason McGuire and Timothy Stiller. But none were convicted.
In fact, first five I mentioned were acquitted after juries failed to find sufficient evidence against them in three trials. The second five I mentioned went through two trials before charges were dropped, while charges against McGuire and Stiller were dropped before their cases could ever go to trial.
In other words, these men were not found guilty.
But I guess the law school Ferguson attended may not have emphasized the concept of innocent until proven guilty, nor does it appear it emphasized libel law.
