Federal prosecutors said Friday that a judge should reject agribusinessman Scott Salyer's bid to have two separate criminal trials in his racketeering case.
In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, prosecutors scoffed at the notion that charges of fraud, racketeering, bribery and price-fixing against Salyer are too complicated to present in a single trial.
Earlier this month, Salyer's attorneys filed a motion to split the case because they said the antitrust charges are not related to the other charges and could prejudice jurors in what would be a very long trial.
A hearing before Judge Lawrence Karlton is set for Nov. 29. Salyer, former owner of the SK Foods group in Monterey and one of the nation's largest processed tomato companies, is scheduled to go on trial next April.