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Ted Butler: It''s unlikely that the dealer wolf pack wants to short silver again
9:14p ET Monday, April 26, 2004
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
A federal judge has reversed the jury verdict against
Tyson Fresh Meats in the anti-trust case about which
GATA advised you on February 17:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gata/message/1899
A report about the judge's action is appended.
The case continues on appeal and still could end up
in favor of the plaintiffs. Meanwhile it is a bit of a
mystery why judges such as this one let juries
decide cases only to tell them afterward that they
got it wrong. The time for a judge to render a verdict
from the bench for lack of evidence is before sending
the case to the jury, not after.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
* * *
Judge Throws Out Tyson Beef Case Verdict
By Phillip Rawls
Associated Press
Friday, April 23, 2004
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=509&e=4&u=/ap/20040423/ap_on_bi_ge/beef_lawsui
t
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge threw out a jury's $1.28
billion verdict against the nation's largest beef packer, Tyson
Fresh Meats Inc., ruling Friday that it did not illegally manipulate
cattle prices.
U.S. Senior District Judge Lyle Strom said the cattlemen who
sued the beef division of Tyson Foods failed to produce evidence
at trial to support the verdict "with respect to both liability and
damages."
"This decision is a victory for U.S. cattle producers and our
company," said John Tyson, chairman and CEO of Tyson
Foods. "It protects the freedom of producers to market cattle
the way they want, and it affirms our strongly held belief that
our livestock buying practices are proper."'
An attorney for cattlemen said the judge's ruling would be
appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The battle goes on," said attorney David Domina of Omaha,
Neb.
On Feb. 17 a federal court jury found Tyson Fresh Meats used
its contracts with select cattle producers to create a captive
supply of cattle that it used as leverage to drive down the price
of cattle on the open, or cash, market. The jury found Tyson's
actions depressed the cash market by $1.28 billion between
February 1994 and October 2002.
The jury recommended awarding $1.28 billion to the entire
class of producers. The size of the damages for each producer
was to be determined later, depending on the size of the class,
but the judge's ruling Friday said there was insufficient evidence
to support the damages.
On March 23 Strom said he wouldn't approve a lump sum
verdict of $1.28 billion, and he went even further with Friday's
ruling.
"Defendant's use of captive supply arrangements is supported
by legitimate business justification of competing in the
industry," the judge wrote.
Six cattlemen sued Tyson Fresh Meats, known then as IBP
Inc., in 1996 claiming the company's use of these contracts,
or marketing agreements, violated the federal Packers and
Stockyards Act.
The suit was granted class-action status, with the six plaintiffs
claiming to represent as many as 30,000 ranchers who sold
cattle to Tyson on the cash market during the time at issue.
In asking Strom to throw out the verdict, Tyson argued that the
jury didn't follow the law closely enough.
Strom said that trial testimony showed the use of a captive
supply helps Tyson "ensure a reliable and consistent supply
of fed cattle" and that a packer "does not violate the Packers
and Stockyard Act when its conduct is undertaken 'in order to
have a more reliable and efficient method of obtaining a supply
of cattle.'"
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