Hello from Judge Timothy Kelly's virtual courtroom, where a status hearing is underway in one of the Proud Boys cases, incl. defendant Dominic Pezzola. Kelly is about to announce a ruling on Pezzola's request to reopen the question of his pretrial detention
Kelly in March ordered Pezzola to stay in jail pending trial, and goes over some of the main reasons for that, incl. allegations he stole a police riot shield, used it to break a window into the Capitol, wore an earpiece, expressed support for returning to DC for more violence
Pezzola's main argument for reopening his detention status has to do with the conditions at the DC jail and problems accessing materials in his case, and Kelly says that just isn't one of the factors that goes into a pretrial detention decision
Kelly notes Pezzola's lawyer conceded he hadn't actually tried to go through the DC jail's discovery access process (atty argued they didn't trust it would work), so the judge says they have to try that first and then come back if it doesn't work
Kelly also finds that Pezzola hasn't presented any new/material information about the allegations against him and whether there's a suitable third-party custodian that would merit reopening his detention at this point
tldr: Dominic Pezzola — indicted in one of the Proud Boys conspiracy cases, charged with using a stolen riot shield to break a window that allowed the mob to get into the Capitol — will remain in jail after losing his latest challenge to his detention ImageImage
AUSA says they just spoke with Pezzola's lawyer yesterday about whether the US atty's office can do anything to assist with the evidence access issues at the DC jail, judge says he's surprised it took so long for them to talk since it's been an issue for a while, "but so be it"
Pezzola's lawyer Steven Metcalf explains they've been trying to address the access issues for a while, and the convo yesterday was specifically about whether the US atty's office can do anything else to intervene and help
Judge moves on to scheduling. AUSA says they'd like to set another status hearing for early in the new year (and toll time again re: defendants' speedy trial rights) to give defendants time to review more evidence that's coming
Kelly signals he's open to suggestions for ways the court can hold the govt's feet to the fire in terms of facilitating evidence access, incl. having govt/parties jointly file status updates leading up to the next hearing date
No defense lawyer (there are three defendants, Pezzola and Matthew Greene are incarcerated, William Pepe is not) objects to setting another status hearing in early 2022 - no discussion of a trial date, this one is not that far along yet
Judge sets the next court date for Jan. 11, orders a report in the interim about status of discovery prodcution and evidence access for the incarcerated defendants
That's a wrap on that, the status report is due Dec. 3

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More from @ZoeTillman

29 Oct
A belated hello from Chief Judge Beryl Howell's courtroom, where sentencing is underway for Jan. 6 defendant Leonard Gruppo — for his misdemeanor plea, the govt is seeking 30 days incarceration
On the government's no good very bad day before Chief Judge Howell yesterday in another Jan. 6 sentencing:
buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Howell is not okay with the govt citing what she refers to as Gruppo's "heroic" military service as a factor that cuts against him in terms of sentencing factors; feds had pointed to it as evidence that he should have known better, violated his oath ImageImage
Read 21 tweets
28 Oct
Hello from Chief Judge Beryl Howell's courtroom (she's in-person, I'm on the remote line), where sentencing is set to begin soon for Jan. 6 def Jack Griffith. Griffith's misdemeanor plea had prompted Howell to question if rioters were getting off too easy: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil… Image
Govt wants 3 mos incarceration, one of the stiffest sentences for a misdemeanor plea: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2108…

They'll argue he lacks remorse and made light of Jan. 6; they cite our prev. piece about the Donald Trump-as-shooter video game he was promoting: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Griffith's lawyer Heather Shaner will argue for probation, she wrote in the sentencing memo that he was remorseful and has "learned from his impulsive behavior" s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2108…

They'll also be arguing a lighter sentence is more in line with outcomes in other Jan. 6 cases
Read 54 tweets
22 Oct
NOW: SCOTUS will not halt Texas's 6-week abortion ban for now — the court will take up DOJ's case to decide if the feds can sue Texas. Justice Sotomayor dissents from the decision not to halt SB 8 in the meantime. More to come. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2109…
Now: SCOTUS will leave Texas's six-week abortion ban in place for now as the justices consider whether DOJ and abortion providers can sue over the law at all. Arguments are set for Nov. 1. buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
After facing setbacks in the 5th Circuit, DOJ and abortion providers each petitioned SCOTUS to decide asap critical questions about whether anyone could affirmatively sue to challenge SB 8 and if there was any order courts could fashion to stop enforcement buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Read 7 tweets
22 Oct
Hello from Judge Reggie Walton's virtual courtroom, where sentencing is about to begin for Capitol rioters Lori Ann and Thomas Vinson. Both pleaded guilty to the parading misdemeanor, govt wants 30 days incarceration for her and home confinement for him
AUSA Mary Dohrmann begins by stressing that the govt has already accounted for the fact that a person didn't commit violence or property destruction in the plea offers that they made to defendants: "No further benefit should be received by them on that account alone."
AUSA says the govt is asking for incarceration for Lori Vinson and not her husband because of a few aggravating factors — lack of candor to law enforcement and repeated statements to news outlets "doubling down" in defense of her participation
Read 41 tweets
21 Oct
Hello from Judge Tanya Chutkan's virtual courtroom, where sentencing will start soon for Troy Smocks, who pleaded guilty to post-1/6 riot threats against "RINOs, Dems, and Tech Execs": "Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are." s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2107…
Smocks was in DC on Jan. 6 but wasn't charged with participating in the riots; per his lawyer, he didn't go onto the Capitol grounds. The social media messages at issue were posted to Parler on Jan. 6 while he was in DC, per plea docs
Smocks will be arguing for a sentence equivalent to time-served — he's been in custody since his arrest in mid-January, so somewhere around 9 mos. Govt is asking for low end of the guidelines range (est'd range is 8-14 mos or 10-16 mos, depending on crim history category)
Read 23 tweets
21 Oct
As more Jan. 6 defs face sentencing, judges are paying attention to how prosecutors/defense lawyers distinguish one from another. Chief Judge Howell has ordered the govt to provide direct analysis on this in the case of Jack Griffith, where feds are seeking 3 mos incarceration
Griffith is scheduled for sentencing tomorrow. He pleaded guilty to the parading count we've seen in most Jan. 6 plea deals so far. In arguing for more time behind bars than in other parading cases, govt focused on evidence of lack of remorse/making light s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2108…
Howell wants a detailed comparison of how the govt views Griffith's conduct compared to other cases where the govt recc'd a sentence of probation or less than 3 mos in jail. Note she also wants briefing on whether she can order probation in addition to incarceration
Read 5 tweets

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