A judge denied a Jan. 6 defendant’s request to delay the start of her trial in order to have time to view about 44,000 hours of riot footage of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Capitol riot.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg acknowledged that defendant Sara Carpenter’s request “is by no means a frivolous request,” but said the defense did not clarify why any additional footage would be exculpatory, Politico reported. Carpenter, a retired NYPD officer, faces two felony counts for the riot at the Capitol.
Boasberg, who will soon become chief judge of the Washington D.C. District Court, also argued that delaying trials for Carpenter and other defendants from Jan. are set could derail”. in the next months.”
Prosecutors say they have already provided Carpenter with an “overwhelming” amount of CCTV footage documenting her 34 minutes in the Capitol, leaving only “a matter of seconds” unexplained.
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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
They say they were left in the dark about what McCarthy’s footage might add.
“We don’t have what the speaker has,” assistant attorney Christopher Cook said at Friday’s hearing, according to Politico. “Either way, there’s always the possibility that information is available.”
As of 2021, Capitol police have already shared some 14,000 hours of footage — including the hours from noon to 8 p.m. on January 6 — with Trum House impeachment managers and two House committees investigating the riot that triggered Congress. interrupted to confirm Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
When requesting a 60-day adjournment in the trial, Carpenter’s attorneys argued that some of McCarthy’s footage could help fill in the “gaps” and give more context to the defendant’s actions at the Capitol.
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The Capitol Police has already turned over 14,000 hours of footage to Congress. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Prosecutors are required to provide defendants with any potentially exculpatory evidence they could bring to the case, but there are limits when dealing with another agency, such as Capitol Police, an arm of Congress, or if the court rules that the government acted well believe in handing over as much material as possible.
The Justice Department has already cited a massive amount of video evidence in filing cases against more than 950 defendants in connection with January 6, 2021, including from Capitol security cameras, police cameras, journalists and protesters themselves, which have recorded hundreds of hours worth of footage.
Extensive video evidence of the January 6 riot at the Capitol was captured by building security cameras, policy agency cameras, journalists, and riots themselves. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The DOJ reportedly did not specify whether it will attempt to review the footage from McCarthy’s office.
Other January 6 defendants, including Proud Boys on trial for seditious conspiracy, have wondered how the tens of thousands of hours of footage will affect their case.
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Rep. Barry Loudermilk, the Republican chairman of the House Administration Committee’s oversight subpanel, has reportedly said the footage from McCarthy’s office will also be made available to the Jan. 6 defendants on a case-by-case basis to ensure they receive a fair trial. .
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
