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- Oct 28, 2017
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Appeals court judges wrestled on Monday with a challenge to a key felony charge that prosecutors have wielded against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants, weighing an issue that could upend hundreds of prosecutions connected to the attack on the Capitol.
A defense attorney for some of the Jan. 6 rioters argued that the way prosecutors have charged hundreds of defendants with felony obstruction — carrying a 20-year maximum sentence — could be deployed against run-of-the-mill peaceful protesters. But the judges disputed that contention, emphasizing that they viewed the Capitol attack as a unique event that lent itself to unique charging decisions.
Not surprisingly, the reason this matter is pending before an appeals court is because a Trump appointed judge looks favorably on violent insurrectionists.
Most of the federal District Court judges in Washington have sided with prosecutors’ interpretation of the obstruction law. But one, Judge Carl Nichols, ruled that defendants in the Jan. 6 cases can be charged with obstruction only if prosecutors can show the defendants’ actions targeted documents like the records of cast electoral votes that were hustled from the Senate chamber that day as the demonstrators swarmed the building.
A defense attorney for some of the Jan. 6 rioters argued that the way prosecutors have charged hundreds of defendants with felony obstruction — carrying a 20-year maximum sentence — could be deployed against run-of-the-mill peaceful protesters. But the judges disputed that contention, emphasizing that they viewed the Capitol attack as a unique event that lent itself to unique charging decisions.
Appeals court struggles with Jan. 6 obstruction of Congress charges
A defense attorney for some rioters argued that the way prosecutors have charged hundreds of defendants could be deployed against run-of-the-mill peaceful protesters.
www.politico.com
Not surprisingly, the reason this matter is pending before an appeals court is because a Trump appointed judge looks favorably on violent insurrectionists.
Most of the federal District Court judges in Washington have sided with prosecutors’ interpretation of the obstruction law. But one, Judge Carl Nichols, ruled that defendants in the Jan. 6 cases can be charged with obstruction only if prosecutors can show the defendants’ actions targeted documents like the records of cast electoral votes that were hustled from the Senate chamber that day as the demonstrators swarmed the building.