WATERLOO - A federal prosecutor who secured Sen. Tom Harkin's recommendation for the U.S. District Attorney post in northern Iowa is running into opposition for her role in the federal immigration raid on Agriprocessors last year.

Last month, Harkin recommended assistant district attorney Stephanie Rose, by all accounts an accomplished 13-year veteran prosecutor, to take the U.S. District Attorney position occupied by Matt Dummermuth.

Rose, 36, would become the first woman appointed to the post, and the first female U.S. district attorney in Iowa since Roxanne Conlin served in the Southern District from 1977 to 1981.

Some of the same attorneys who offered critical testimony about the raid in a congressional hearing last summer are now asking Harkin and President Barack Obama's

immigration team to investigate Rose's role in the operation. They also plan to ask the Justice Department to investigate any ethics violations stemming from the raid on the kosher meatpacking plant in Postville.

Rose briefed public defenders on the day of the raid and closely coordinated with defense attorneys and probation officers throughout the operation.

"I would hope at the confirmation hearing that her position on the Postville process would be further explored," said Rockne Cole, an attorney in Iowa City. "We need to know if she would endorse such procedures in the future."

Stands by decision

The Democratic senator from Iowa stands by his decision after interviewing Rose himself and receiving several glowing recommendations from defense attorneys involved in the Agriprocessors operation, said Harkin spokeswoman Kate Cyrul. The senator is fully aware of her central role in the raid, she said, and is comfortable with it.

"This (raid) was initiated by Washington, and came out of (Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement)," Cyrul said. "It would be wrong to read into her role as prosecutor any of her own views. This decision we made was based on her qualifications."

A litany of ethical and constitutional concerns have been raised over court proceedings at National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, where a temporary court processed 389 detained workers in four days.

Some of the charges leveled against the federal government include: Denying adequate legal representation by assigning as many as 17 defendants to an attorney; the breakdown of separation of powers when Chief Judge Linda R. Reade participated in ex-parte communications by approving plea agreements and moving the court an hour north to Waterloo without the defense's knowledge; and the use of aggressive plea agreements that expired after seven days.

The tactics have made a huge splash in the legal community nationwide. A judicial clerk for Reade, the presiding judge in the Agriprocessors criminal proceedings, authored a law review article entitled, "Butchering Statutes: The Postville Raid and the Misinterpretation of Federal Law." In it, Peter Moyers argues federal prosecutors misused the criminal identity theft and judicial removal laws that made the speedy mass prosecutions possible.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about the use of criminal identity theft charges against undocumented workers who don't knowingly steal identities because they don't know if their Social Security numbers are fake or belong to another person. The case originated in the Southern District of Iowa.

James Benzoni, a Des Moines immigration attorney, said the ethical and legal violations in the Agriprocessors case were so atrocious than anyone involved was obligated to raise concerns.

"The ethics are off the wall. You'd lose your law license if you did this in civil court," he said. "(Rose) has a duty to raise her voice when she sees an ethical violation, and no alarm was raised. She sold her soul to get the promotion."

Rose said any criticisms over the court proceedings at National Cattle Congress have come from people outside the process. She noted no public defenders who represented clients in the case have expressed such grave concerns.

Executing the massive operation required amazing efforts and a "ton of good work," she said, though she expects to be grilled on the matter if she faces Congress during a confirmation hearing.

"Over and over again, everything was done well within the law and to the best of our abilities," she said. "They're essentially attacking those defense attorneys who would have never done anything unconstitutional."

Rose's role praised

Several public defenders who represented clients offered strong praise of Rose's work during the operation and in all other professional encounters with her. Though the attorneys said any plan that involves mass prosecutions is troubling, they said Rose was acting on orders from Washington.

Michael Lahammer, an attorney in Cedar Rapids, describes himself as a "staunch Democrat" who has never written a letter of recommendation for someone in a U.S. Attorney's office. He made an exception, he said, because he considers Rose a hard-working and conscientious prosecutor who goes out of her way to alert defense attorneys to any relevant information, even if it could hurt her case. He even thinks she will make an effort to change the culture in a district that has a tough, uncompromising national reputation.

"I don't know of any defense attorneys that really have anything bad to say about her. She's one of the best ones to work with over there," he said.

Chris Clausen, an attorney based in Marshalltown at the time of the raid, said one of the common criticisms of the raid - that prosecutors offered harsh and inflexible plea agreements - isn't entirely true. Rose listened to his concerns when he thought his clients deserved an adjustment in their plea agreement, he said.

"Three of my clients were offered potential changes on their (deportation) orders, and one was considered for a change on a recommended sentence. Of those four, one went through," he said.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.