The abrupt collapse of the federal government’s prosecution of the Aloun Farms brothers likely will affect how the court handles the related case against Global Horizons Manpower, several attorneys associated with the cases said.
How is unclear, they said.
"That’s kind of the million-dollar question," said Clare Hanusz, a civil attorney representing Thai nationals who worked as laborers at Aloun Farms.
Global Horizon officers and employees are scheduled to stand trial next year in what the government has called the largest human-trafficking case ever prosecuted in the U.S. They are accused of exploiting about 600 impoverished workers from Thailand. Three defendants already have pleaded guilty.
Questions about that case surfaced Thursday after U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway dismissed in midtrial all charges against Aloun Farms operators Alec and Mike Sou, who had hired Thai workers from Global Horizons, a Los Angeles-based labor contracting business.
Mollway granted the government’s request to dismiss forced-labor and other charges just days after the lead prosecutor, Susan French, was excused for health reasons after acknowledging she made misstatements before the grand jury. French’s departure from the case was not mentioned when the prosecution asked Mollway to dismiss the charges permanently.
French, from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., also is the lead prosecutor in the Global Horizons case, which likewise is to be tried before Judge Mollway, said Michael Green, the company’s attorney.
"The guy driving the bus in our case and the Aloun Farms case was the Justice Department in Washington, and they obviously had no idea what they were doing," Green said.
Eric Seitz, Mike Sou’s former attorney, said the Global Horizons prosecution differs from that of Aloun Farms. The prosecution is against Global Horizons, which recruited the foreign laborers, while the Sou brothers were the recipients of workers.
Nonetheless, Seitz said, the Aloun Farms case "tarnishes the government’s image."
Seitz also said there may be problems before the federal grand jury that indicted Global Horizons, and the defense lawyers might find some "ammunition" when they review transcripts of those proceedings.
In questioning a grand jury witness in the Sous’ case, French indicated that the Thai laborers could not be assessed recruitment fees, even though the law at the time did not prohibit such fees.
A Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
Green said the underpinnings of the Global Horizons and Aloun Farms cases are similar.
If the prosecution committed a similar misstep before the grand jury in the Global Horizons case, that "could crumble, just like with Aloun Farms," Hanusz said. But if there was no such misstep, the case still could be strong, she added.
Still, the fact that French provided the grand jury with inaccurate information likely will prompt Mollway to favor the defense in certain procedural decisions that previously may have been close calls, both Hanusz and Green said.
"She doesn’t want the same thing to happen with Global — a case more people will be watching even more closely now," Hanusz said.
"What (the Washington prosecutors) did in our state was a disgrace," Green said. "The judge has the right to be leery."
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Star-Advertiser staff writer Ken Kobayashi contributed to this report.
