How my Jan. 6 clients were robbed of fairness in DC bench trials

In the aftermath of the adjacent blanket pardons issued by President Donald Trump connected Jan. 20 for each persons prosecuted successful transportation with the events of January 6, 2021, the loudest disapproval ever goes thing similar this: 

"President Trump has released hundreds of unsafe criminals from situation adjacent though they pled blameworthy oregon were convicted by juries oregon judges, including immoderate appointed by Trump himself."

But is it just to qualify everyone caught up successful the transgression justness process successful the District of Columbia arsenic "criminals" – unsafe oregon different – if determination was nary just process disposable to scope a judgement arsenic to their guilt?

WILLIAM SHIPLEY: THE CONSTITUTIONAL REASON WHY TRUMP'S SWEEPING JAN. 6 PARDONS WERE JUSTIFIED

Sure, determination were trials. Defendants could enactment their destiny successful the hands of jurors picked from possibly the astir anti-Trump assemblage excavation successful the nation, oregon they could take different option. They could inquire for a "bench trial," wherever the justice – including immoderate appointed by Republican presidents – would perceive the grounds and render verdicts. That had to contiguous the accidental for a just proceedings adjacent erstwhile a assemblage proceedings would ne'er beryllium fair, right? 

In my 21 years arsenic a national prosecutor, with dozens of transgression trials involving a myriad of national crimes from cause trafficking to taxation fraud, I ne'er had a azygous lawsuit wherever the suspect opted for seat proceedings implicit a assemblage trial. In the 12 years that person followed arsenic a transgression defence lawyer -- each successful national tribunal – I had ne'er recommended a seat proceedings to a client.

When the judges person heard grounds astir what happened that time truthful galore times that they archer prosecutors to skip implicit it, you’ve mislaid the payment of a wholly unbiased, neutral factfinder.

But erstwhile it came to representing January 6 clients, I advised each but 1 to waive their Sixth Amendment close to a assemblage proceedings and person their cases decided by a national justice – careless of which president appointed them. The 1 objection was a lawsuit wherever the suspect had pled blameworthy and made admissions nether oath to the justice who would person decided his case. After withdrawing his blameworthy plea, it seemed the amended enactment to instrumentality a changeable with a assemblage alternatively than effort to triumph implicit the justice to whom he'd already admitted his guilt. 

I person not tried to find the full fig of seat trials successful January 6 cases. The information that determination were immoderate astatine each was an anomaly. But I was acold from unsocial among defence attorneys who, knowing the Washington, D.C., assemblage pool, recommended seat trials for clients. And successful the 5 seat trials I was progressive successful during 2024, each justice told the national prosecutors to skip the grounds of the "events of the day." Their reason? They'd heard it each galore times before. Instead, prosecutors were told to accelerated guardant to grounds circumstantial to the defendant.

Former President Donald J. Trump, left, and Judge Tanya Chutkan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File/United States Courts)

And THAT is wherefore the seat trials were a double-edged sword. When the judges person heard grounds astir what happened that time truthful galore times that they archer prosecutors to skip implicit it, you’ve mislaid the payment of a wholly unbiased, neutral factfinder.

This brings maine to the pointed and unjudicial comments made by respective of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judges successful the aftermath of the sweeping pardons issued by President Trump. See if immoderate of them dependable neutral oregon objective:

District Judge Beryl Howell: "No 'national injustice' occurred here, conscionable arsenic nary outcome-determinative predetermination fraud occurred successful the 2020 statesmanlike election….  No 'process of nationalist reconciliation' tin statesman erstwhile mediocre losers, whose preferred campaigner loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a constitutionally mandated proceeding successful Congress and doing truthful with impunity." 

District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly: "What occurred that time is preserved for the aboriginal done thousands of contemporaneous videos, transcripts of trials, assemblage verdicts, and judicial opinions analyzing and recounting the grounds done a neutral lens…. Those records are immutable and correspond the truth, nary substance however the events of January 6 are described by those charged oregon their allies." 

District Judge Tanya Chutken: "No pardon tin alteration the tragic information of what happened connected January 6, 2021….  The dismissal of this lawsuit cannot undo the 'rampage [that] near aggregate radical dead, injured much than 140 people, and inflicted millions of dollars successful damage.' ... And it cannot repair the jagged breach successful America's ineffable contented of peacefully transitioning power."

District Judge Amy Berman Jackson: "[Dismissals are] contrary to the manifest nationalist involvement successful upholding the regularisation of law….  [Police Officers]  are the patriots. Patriotism is loyalty to state and loyalty to the Constitution – not loyalty to a azygous caput of state…. No changeable of a pen and nary proclamation tin change the facts of what took spot connected January 6, 2021. When others successful the nationalist oculus are not consenting to hazard their ain powerfulness oregon popularity by calling retired lies erstwhile they perceive them, the grounds of the proceedings successful this courthouse volition beryllium disposable to those who question the truth."

District Judge Paul Friedman: "The proclamation’s assertion is factually incorrect. There has been nary ‘grave nationalist injustice…. "Although the tribunal has granted the question to dismiss, neither this dismissal, the dismissal orders issued by different judges of this court, oregon the pardons issued by the president volition undo the harm done by the insurrectionists connected January 6, 2021. Nor volition it alteration the information of what happen[ed] connected that time of infamy…."

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Not each the territory judges saw the request to connection their ain views connected Trump's pardons. But each had condemned the "events of the day" successful the astir strident connection imaginable astatine pretrial hearings, rendering of verdicts, and pronouncement of sentences. Judge Emmet Sullivan adjacent called 1 suspect a "terrorist" and commented connected his "bad character" earlier the suspect ever had an accidental to contiguous immoderate benignant of defense. 

The views of each the judges successful the District of Columbia were good understood. Yet, faced with the aforesaid question, whether to waive the close to a assemblage proceedings oregon instrumentality our chances with the judges who had expressed the views above, I would springiness the aforesaid proposal contiguous that I started giving 3 years agone – taxable to a seat proceedings and fto the justice decide. That's however biased the assemblage excavation successful Washington is.

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When the critics of Trump's pardons mistakenly presume the fairness of the underlying convictions, the existent lack of specified fairness deals a fatal stroke to the legitimacy of their claims.