The court schedules Stewart Parnell v. United States for oral arguments

Oral arguments for Stewart Parnell v. United States are scheduled for the week of September 23 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.

Parnell, once the chief executive of the now-defunct Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), wants appellate judges to vacate his conviction and sentence. Parnell, 70, is an inmate at the federal low-security lockup near Durham, N.C., known as Butner.

As a federal prisoner, Parnell filed a Habeas Corpus petition known as Motion 2255 nearly five years ago, seeking release from his 2014 jury conviction and the remaining time on his 28-year prison sentence.

Two issues from Parnell’s Motion 2255 are relevant to these oral arguments: jury bias and ineffective assistance by legal counsel. Both were granted leave by the 11th Circuit to proceed with “appeal.”

In 2008-2009, PCA’s peanut processing plant in Georgia was the source of a multi-state Salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands of people and caused countless deaths. PCA peanut butter and spread subsequently required the recall of thousands of products.

A four-year investigation, led by the FBI, followed and resulted in criminal charges against several PCA executives and managers, with most of the charges falling on Parnell. A jury in Albany, GA, found him guilty of all but one of the 68 crimes he was charged with on February 15, 2013. He was convicted of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, selling misbranded food and introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce.

Stewart Parnell’s habeas corpus petition was filed on September 6, 2019, and after he was released for an evidentiary hearing in 2021, the District Court denied it on September 23, 2022. Savannah attorney Amy Lee Copeland filed the appeal with the 11th Circuit , the following year, pending oral arguments.

Copeland is a former federal prosecutor with appellate experience.

Behind Stewart Parnell’s appeal comes another appeal from his brother Michael,65, who is also an inmate at Butner, for PCA-related convictions.

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