Thread by @ZoeTillman

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

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1428017185344065536

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

A notable data point from the AUSA in explaining to Howell why the govt isn't advocating probation here (or in most cases): The govt has extended 268 plea offers in the Jan. 6 cases (out of ~650 filed to date), and of those, the govt offered to recommend probation in just five

I'm at 118 guilty pleas entered so far + approx. two dozen plea hearings on the calendar (but I don't count them until they're accepted by a judge) @emptywheel

I've had to dip in and out of the Gruppo sentencing, but he just addressed the court, see @JordanOnRecord's thread. Howell is gearing up to announce his sentence now.

https://twitter.com/JordanOnRecord/status/1454096645562511360

Now: Chief Judge Howell sentences Leonard Gruppo to 24 months of probation (to include a period of home detention) + $3,000 fine (the govt hadn't asked for that).

It's the second day that Howell rejected the govt's request for incarceration. Previously: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Up next: Chief Judge Howell will sentence Jan. 6 defendant Eric Torrens, who pleaded guilty to the parading misdemeanor and whose codefendant Jack Griffith was sentenced to probation yesterday after an extremely eventful hearing before Howell buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

On Torrens' guilty plea:

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1428371088896110592

Video that the govt prev. released that shows Torrens, Griffith (red hat), and man ID'd as their codefendant Matthew Bledsoe (hasn't pleaded guilty so far)

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1440500776904773635

Torrens' lawyer tells Howell that they were there for Griffith's sentencing yesterday and for the Gruppo sentencing this morning, so they're familiar with her process (and, it goes unsaid, all of her criticism of the government and the probation sentences she handed down)

AUSA Jamie Carter, who was the prosecutor in the Griffith case yesterday, begins by discussing the challenge of managing the many Jan. 6 cases. Howell says the press doesn't always accurately reflect tone, and that it's the court's job to ask Qs and have govt explain decisions

Howell and the AUSA are spending time parsing the factors that the govt has put forward to explain why its rec'ing jail for some rioters but not others. For Torrens, govt wants 2 weeks incarceration, citing excitement, evidence of awareness of violence/chaos

Howell talks at length about how she's thinking about post-Jan. 6 conduct in deciding what warrants incarceration. She sees a difference between people who have continued to call for/incite political violence versus just expressing the view that the election was stolen

There was a very in the weeds (but important!) discussion of an unresolved Q of whether a judge can impose a "split sentence" of incarceration + probation for a class B misdemeanor — one issue Howell notes is, how is restitution enforced (supervised release not an option)

Torrens' lawyer is up to push for a sentence of probation, he argues that shame is a powerful punishment and advocates against giving too much weight to general deterrence in crafting a sentence (punishing an individual to deter others from doing something similar)

Torrens addresses the judge: "I made a bunch of mistakes that day." He says he shouldn't have gone to the Capitol and gone inside through a broken door, apologizes for doing it, promises he won't do something like that again

Howell moves to announcing her decision. She says there are many ppl who believe anyone who went into the Capitol on Jan. 6 should go to jail, and Congress could pass a law that requires that, "but that is not the law that I must apply here" — the law requires balancing factors

Howell lists factors that weigh against incarceration for Eric Torrens, incl. minimal time in the Capitol, no violence, no advance planning, no inciting statements after, cooperation with investigators, expressed remorse

Howell notes that unlike some defendants where the govt did recommend probation, Torrens didn't publicly post any photos from the Capitol online or comments expressing support for what happened

Now: Chief Judge Howell sentences Jan. 6 defendant Eric Torrens to 36 months of probation, to include 90 days of home detention (the same sentence that his codefendant Jack Griffith got yesterday), plus the $500 restitution per plea agreement

And that's a wrap on that one. No other Jan. 6 sentencings or plea hearings on the calendar (a couple status hearings) for today.