Sheriff stands tall: Warns DOJ of possible arrest

Via The Bonnie Blue Blog

The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn its subpoena of Indiana raw dairy farmer Richard Hochstetler to appear before a federal grand jury.

He was scheduled to testify tomorrow in Detroit, in connection with an outbreak of illnesses linked by public health officials, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to the milk of his Forest Grove Dairy. But yesterday he received a certified letter saying that his subpoena was being withdrawn.

Ross Goldstein, a U.S. Justice Department trial attorney, noted in the letter that Hochstetler had previously stated to him that Hochstetler wouldn't answer questions or produce documents based on his Fifth Amendment constitutional rights. "Based on your representation that Forest Grove Dairy is a sole proprietorship and that you refuse to produce any responsive documents based on the assertion of rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution against self incrimination, I write to advise you that you are released from the subpoena until further notice." He was advised to retain all documents in the case.

Sheriff Brad Rogers of Elkhart County, IndianaWhile it's not clear exactly what kind of maneuvering led to the federal pullback, one factor working for Hochstetler may have been the efforts of his county sheriff, Brad Rogers of Elkhart County. He wrote two letters to the Justice Department warning it not to conduct inspections of Hochstetler's farm without a warrant from a local judge. In the process, he got into a debate over the limits of federal power and the U.S. Constitution with the Justice Department's Goldstein.

Earlier this month, Rogers emailed Goldstein that there had been "a number of inspections and attempted inspections on (Hochstetler's) farm..." He warned that "any further attempts to inspect this farm without a warrant signed by a local judge, based on probable cause, will result in Federal inspectors' removal or arrest for trespassing by my officers or I."

MORE