New: Chief Judge Howell just overturned a magistrate judge’s decision to keep Couy Griffin, the Cowboys For Trump guy, in jail pending trial. She said his actions are “troubling” and “unpatriotic,” but he didn’t enter the Capitol itself and doesn’t pose a flight risk, she said.
His lawyers tried to argue that even having a detainment hearing b/c of public statements Griffin made (including saying that "there’s gonna be blood running out" of the Capitol) was a violation of the 1st amendment. The judge denied that argument, but ruled to free him.
My story on the decision: buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoco…
Griffin clearly dislikes (“to put it mildly,” the judge added) Congress and the executive branch, but “he hasn’t expressed such a disdain for the judiciary court orders," suggesting he isn’t a flight risk and would show up for his future court dates, she said.
“There’s gonna be blood running out of that building. But at the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Donald J. Trump if it boils down to it.” Days before the inauguration, Griffin was arrested near the Capitol
Due to delays in the court system because of Covid, the judge said that Griffin could wait a year before his trial, and what he is charged with only carries a year sentence if he's found guilty. Also, he refuses to wear a mask, which could delay his trial further.
“It might be a form of rough justice for people who don't want to wear masks contributing to the spread of the virus, sitting in jail, in pretrial detention,” Judge Howell said. “But on the other hand, shouldn't the court be concerned about the fairness of that kind of result?”
She also at one point asked Griffin's lawyer what makes him a cowboy, but his lawyer, unfortunately, did not respond. Anyway, it's all in here: buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoco…
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