Dive Brief:
- A federal judge has postponed the trial of a businessman accused of fraudulently labeling meat as meeting the halal standards required by observant Muslims.
- The chief magistrate judge for the Northern District of Iowa said "extended pretrial preparation" was required in the case against 73-year-old Bill Aossey Jr., founder of Cedar Rapids, IA-based Midamar Corp.
- Aossey was indicted in October on charges including wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements on export documents, and conspiracy in selling non-halal meat in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Dive Insight:
As we noted before, a case involving Midamar, which is one of the largest sellers of halal meat in the U.S., is likely to generate a lot of attention in the Muslim world. If for no other reason, that's worth making sure that the courts get this one right. If that requires another three months of preparation, then postponing the trial is a reasonable and responsible move.
