Judges continuing a parliamentary riot trial in DC in a bias allegation

Article author:

Associated Press

Michael Kunzelman

Washington (AP) — Last month in parts of Washington Residents of Washington, DC, who reported on their mission as a jury, felt that the assault on the Associated Press by a Trump mob felt like a personal attack.

Prior to the trial of a Michigan man charged with riots, one of the jury trial candidates said the police officer injured during the melee attack was his best friend. rice field. Another is a friend who is a parliamentary employee or journalist who worked at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The woman whose boyfriend lived near the Capitol remembered the horror she felt that day.

A federal jury who swiftly convicted Anthony Robert Williams of attacking the Capitol and preventing Congress from proving President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 elections. Did not serve.

However, the personal connection to the riots is that hundreds of fair juries in Washington have been chosen to result from the riots, especially as legislators hold hearings that draw attention to the riots. Less than a mile from the court highlighting the challenges faced by judges and lawyers in deciding criminal cases.

One of the most serious cases raised by the Justice Department in the House of Representatives attack was that lawyers were unable to get a fair trial during a television broadcast. A hearing by the House Committee investigating the riots that have already been postponed after the allegations.

And more and more defendants have their trial in Washington, D. C. The results of the first trial, saying that they are pushing to move from, prove that odds are unfairly piled up against the defendant on January 6 in the national capital.

"D.C. is a city that, as a whole, feels victim of crime.

Prosecutors and judges are in the Capitol. We have not seen evidence that the mob cannot be tried fairly in Washington, D.C., and believe that the process of eliminating a biased jury is working. The January 6 case. The judge, who presides over, has consistently rejected the request to move the trial, saying that the capital has many inhabitants who can act as fair juries.

1 The prosecutor's previous intact record at the jury trial on June 6 may indicate the strength of the evidence against the mob. Media.

This is a low level of lightness. The latest in a series of long-term legal gambits from defendants accused of crimes ranging from sin to instigating conspiracy to serious crimes. Already more than 300 people nationwide have been guilty of riot-related crimes. All in all, 72 jury trials have unanimously convicted all six January 6 defendants in the indictment.

Washington's federal court, where all cases on January 6 are being tried, has seen a number of politically prosecuted trials, including the trial of former DC Mayor Marion Barry of the Iran Contra case. Oliver North and former Trump adviser Roger Stone have pointed out by the prosecutor.

Judges move the trial to another location, even if it's the hottest. It is very rare to agree. For example, the Boston Marathon bomber Johar Zarnaev was affected by an attack that killed three people and injured more than 260 in Boston. He was tried on the grounds of lawyer opposition.

If Defendant Anthony Robert Williams on January 6 had given way, his trial took place in his hometown of Michigan. His lawyer argued that media reports of the Capitol attack polluted the jury trial pool and predisposed Williams to be the victim of them.

Judge Beryl Howell denied the request to change Williams' courtroom before the jury trial began on June 27. .. Alternately.

Howell disqualified several jury trial candidates after asking about his personal connections and strong emotions about the January 6th event. The judge asked the woman if her friendship with her officer, whose ribs broke during the riot, would prevent her from being fair and impartial.

"My Christianity says" no ", but my feelings say" yes "," the woman replied.

A man who married a USA Today reporter said January 6 was a frequent topic among friends working at the Capitol.

"It would be very difficult to separate them," he said before Howell forgave him.

Howell also disqualified a woman who described herself as "very left-biased," and his "deep-rooted" aversion to former President Donald Trump was greater than in his White House era. Former New York City resident who said before.

The jury elected to Williams' trial included NASA engineers, moving company employees, paralegals, Wall Street regulators, and former State Department employees. No one expressed a strong opinion on January 6th.

More than three dozen Capitol riot defendants, including at least nine who filed requests in June, demanded that Washington move the case. Nothing has been successful so far.

In denying one such request, Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court was unable to secure a seat in Washington's entire population as a result of the January 6 case. He said he agreed with the prosecutor that he had no reason to believe. Fair panel.

"In any jurisdiction in the United States, most jury candidates have heard of what happened on January 6, and many juries vary. I have a disqualification bias, "she writes.

Before convicting retired New York City police officer Thomas Webster for assaulting a Capitol police officer during a riot, Webster's lawyer was a resident of Washington. According to the survey, 84% of the defendants on January 6 will maintain the 2020 election results and Trump's power. Attorney James Monroe also said that 92% of Washington's population voted for Biden.

"Given the biased political composition of the district, a jury that is not fully composed of people pre-determined to convict Webster (presumed Trump supporters). It is impossible to judge a member, "writes Monroe.

Judge Amit Mehta of the United States said that nearly half of Washington's residents "will be open in the context of a particular case," according to an investigation. , Dismissed this allegation.

Members of the Aus Keepers also failed to persuade Meta to move the trial on sedition charges from Washington to Alexandria, Virginia. Their lawyers said all of the January 6 cases had been brought to justice before the jury was convicted in Washington.

"That's true, but convictions are rarely uncommon in federal criminal charges," Mehta wrote. "The mere existence of other convictions does not mean that the jury pool is essentially contaminated."

Williams' trial has millions of members of the House of Representatives. It was the first trial of the January 6 case since it began a hearing on the Capitol riot that attracted TV viewers.

Parliamentary Riot Defendant Robert Morse's defense counsel John Kiyonaga said a House Commission hearing "poisoned" the Washington jury trial. .. Kiyonaga sought to move the client's trial to another district.

"The Commission has spawned a nationwide rendition that accurately choreographed the January 6 defendant as a" rebel army "and an attempted murder orchestra in a coup d'etat," Kiyonaga wrote. ..

Number of far-right Proud Boys militant groups charged with sedition conspiracy and accused of attempting to force opposition to the legal transfer of presidential power on January 6 A trial of human members was scheduled to begin in August.

However, U.S. district judge Timothy Kelly said that some Proud Boys member lawyers could not choose an impartial judge during a House Commission hearing. After insisting, he agreed to move the trial to December.

Defendant lawyer Carmen Hernandez also quoted "non-stop detrimental publicity" from the House Commission hearing as a reason to move the Proud Boys trial to another district. , The judge has not yet ruled it.

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Boston Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

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For full coverage of the January 6 hearing,https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.