A final docket call is scheduled for March 31st in the second trial proceedings for former Blue Bell Creameries president and CEO Paul Kruse.

Paul KruseA report from Food Safety News says this will be the last meeting prior to jury selection on April 10th. Judge Robert Pitman in the Western District Court in Austin ordered Kruse, his defense attorneys and federal prosecutors to be in attendance at the hearing, and Pitman will hear any pending pre-trial motions at that time.

A mistrial was declared in August for Kruse’s first criminal trial, as the jury voted 10-2 to acquit Kruse. He faces one count of conspiracy and five counts of fraud in connection to Blue Bell’s listeria outbreak in 2015.

Kruse was first charged in May 2020 on allegations of covering up what the company knew about listeria contamination at its facilities. Those charges were initially dismissed because an indictment was not obtained from a federal grand jury, but an indictment was secured in October 2020.

Blue Bell pleaded guilty separately to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products and agreed to pay a total of $19.35 million in fines, forfeitures and civil settlement payments.

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