How My Jan 6 Client Gets Robbed in DC Bench Trial Fair

Nearby Blanket pardon from President Donald Trump On January 20, the biggest criticism of everyone prosecuted on the incident on January 6, 2021 is always like this:

“President Trump has released hundreds of dangerous criminals from prison, even if they promised to be guilty or convicted by a jury or judge, including some criminals appointed by Trump himself.”

But if there is no fair process available to make a judgment on one’s own crime, is it fair to characterize everyone who is struggling in the criminal justice process in the District of Columbia?

William Shipley: The Constitutional reason why Trump swept Young. 6 pardons are reasonable

Of course, there are experiments. Defendants can hand over their destiny to us who are probably the most anti-Trump jury in the United States, or they can choose another option. They can ask for a “substitute trial” where judges (including some judges appointed by the Republican president) will hear the evidence and the judgment. Even if a jury trial is never fair, it must be an opportunity to conduct a fair trial, right?

In my 21 years as federal prosecutor, there have been dozens of criminal trials involving countless federal crimes ranging from drug trafficking to tax fraud, and I have never had a case where the defendant chose the bench at a jury trial. During the 12 years that followed as a criminal defense attorney – all in federal court – I never suggested a substitute trial on clients.

When the judges hear the evidence that happened many times this day to tell the prosecutor to skip it, you lose the benefits of the totally unbiased, neutral fact discovery.

But when representing clients on January 6, I recommend that all but one person waive their jury trial powers in the Sixth Amendment and that the case be decided by a federal judge – regardless of which appointment the president appoints. An exception is the case where the defendant pleaded guilty and was sworn in. After withdrawing the guilty plea, it seems like a better option to shoot with the jury rather than trying to win the judge who he has confessed to guilt.

I have not tried to determine the total number of benchmark trials for the January 6 case. There is absolutely any fact that is an exception. But I was alone in defense attorneys who knew Washington, D.C., jury, recommended a substitute trial on clients. During my five trials in 2024, each judge told federal prosecutors to skip the evidence of “the incident of the day.” What’s their reason? They have heard it many times before. Instead, the prosecutor was told to turn further to defendant-specific evidence.

That’s why bench judgment is a double-edged sword. When the judges hear the evidence that happened many times this day to tell the prosecutor to skip it, you lose the benefits of the totally unbiased, neutral fact discovery.

This brought me into the sharp and unquestionable comments made by several U.S. district courts for the District of Columbia judges, after a broad pardon issued by President Trump. See if they sound neutral or objective:

Magistrate Beryl Howell:”There is no “national injustice” here, just like election fraud without results in the 2020 presidential election. When the poor loser (the first-choice candidate loses the election) is glorified and glorified for impunity for undermining the mandatory litigation of the constitution in Congress.“

District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly:”Through thousands of simultaneous videos, trial transcripts, jury judgments and judicial opinions, analyzing and narrating evidence through a neutral lens, this day will be reserved for the future. These records are immutable and represent truth, regardless of how the events of January 6 are described by the accused or their allies.“

Magistrate Tanya Chutken:”No pardon can change the tragic facts of what happened on January 6, 2021…. The firing in the case cannot be removed “Rampage (that is) caused multiple deaths, injured more than 140 people, and caused millions of dollars in damage.” …and it cannot repair the sacred tradition of the sacred peace transition force of the United States jagged crack. ”

Magistrate Amy Berman Jackson:”(Split) is contrary to the obvious public interest in upholding the rule of law. (Police) is a patriot. Patriotism is loyalty to the state and loyalty to the constitution, not loyalty to a head of state…. There is no stroke, nor is there an announcement that it can change the fact that happened on January 6, 2021. When others in the public’s eyes are unwilling to call lies to risk their power or popularity when they hear them, the court’s lawsuit will provide those seeking truth.. ”

Magistrate Paul Friedman:”The assertion declared is actually incorrect. There is no serious national injustice…. “Although the court has approved the motion to dismiss, the dismissal order issued by other judges of this court or the pardon issued by the president will cancel the damage caused by the insurgents on January 6, 2021. Change what happened on the infamous day the truth…….“

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Not all district judges feel it is necessary to express their opinions on Trump’s pardon. But all condemned the “worst events” in the most intense language imagined by pretrial hearings, judgments and pronouncements of sentences. Judge Emmet Sullivan even referred to one defendant as a “terrorist” and commented on his “bad guy” before the defendant had the opportunity to raise any kind of defense.

The views of all the District of Columbia judges are fully understood. However, facing the same question, is it a waived jury trial or an opportunity to express the above opinions, I will make the same proposals for the trial as it began three years ago and let the judge decide. This is the prejudice of the Washington jury.

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The actual lack of such fairness dealt a fatal blow to the legitimacy of their claim when critics of Trump’s pardon mistakenly assumed the fairness of the basic conviction.