Case continued for Conway man in Capitol riot flagpole assault

The case of a Conway man accused of utilizing a flagpole to beat a police officer outdoors the U.S. Capitol has been continued till Nov. 22.

Peter Francis Stager, 42, was arrested in Conway the day after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. He has remained in the District of Columbia jail since shortly after his arrest in Arkansas.

During a teleconference listening to Thursday in federal court docket in the District of Columbia, Stager objected to the subsequent 60 days being “tolled” from the speedy trial clock, which means the 60 days could be excluded.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1), trial should begin inside 70 days from the date the data or indictment was filed, or from the date the defendant seems earlier than an officer of the court docket in which the cost is pending, whichever is later.

But a choose can exclude time from that speedy trial clock for numerous causes.

The listening to Thursday concerned Stager and 4 different males all charged in the identical case: 22-cr-35 in the District of Columbia federal court docket.

“The 5 Defendants in this matter have been concerned in a collection of armed assaults in opposition to three Metropolitan Police Department officers,” in line with a July 20 submitting from Colleen D. Kukowski, assistant U.S. lawyer for the District of Columbia.

Since then, two different males have been added as defendants in the case, however they weren’t a part of Thursday’s listening to.

According to a “assertion of details” filed by federal prosecutors in January, Stager advised a confidential informant that he did not know the man he was putting on the bottom with the flagpole was a police officer and that he thought the individual he was putting was “antifa.”

Assistant U.S. lawyer Benet Kearney advised the court docket Thursday that the federal government wanted one other 60 days due to the large quantity of discovery, which incorporates many hours of video linked with a whole lot of defendants from the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

An extra 60 days would additionally give the federal government extra time to debate “pre-trial resolutions” with attorneys for the defendants in Stager’s case, stated Kearney.

“Are there objections to the federal government’s request,” requested U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.

At that time, Stager raised his hand in a video feed from the D.C. jail that was apparently seen to the choose however to not reporters who had solely audio entry to the listening to.

Stager’s lawyer, David Benowitz, who specializes in white-collar and high-profile crime circumstances, was calling in from one other location.

Benowitz is a school member at Harvard Law School’s “famend” Trial Advocacy Workshop, in line with his agency’s web site, criminallawdc.com/profile. Sullivan has served as a member of the visiting school at that very same workshop, in line with his biography, https://bit.ly/3CFLp3t.

“Mr. Stager, you’ve a superb lawyer,” stated Sullivan. “The lawyer would not know what you need to say. And I’ve an obligation to guard you from saying something that is going to harm you, so possibly the perfect factor for me to do is allow you to communicate along with your lawyer in a breakout room. Your lawyer would not know what you are going to say. And I do not need you to — you recognize, individuals begin apologizing. They begin saying all types of issues that the federal government may probably use in opposition to you in trial. I perceive you are anxious.”

Again, Sullivan recommended that Stager meet along with his lawyer in a breakout room.

“Your honor, I’ve nothing to cover, however if you would like for me to do this, I’ll gladly do it,” Stager advised the court docket.

“Well, I do not need you to harm your self, that is all,” Sullivan stated. “I do know you are not bashful. I do know that, and I recognize that. You’re a really sensible, articulate man. I simply do not need to see anybody put himself in jeopardy by saying one thing that, should you have been in court docket, your lawyer would seize your arm and say, ‘Shut up! Don’t say it.’ But your lawyer would not know what you are going to say.”

“It’s not that lengthy, your honor,” Stager stated.

The choose laughed and requested Benowitz, “So what’s your pleasure? You need to communicate to your consumer, counsel?”

“Yes, please,” Benowitz stated.

“Look, you’ve got acquired the most effective in the nation,” stated Sullivan. “Listen to your lawyer, Mr. Stager.”

Court recessed for a couple of minutes.

When court docket was again in session, Sullivan once more requested if there have been any objections to the federal government’s request.

“On behalf of Mr. Stager, we object to the request for that continuance and the tolling of the speedy trial clock,” stated Benowitz.

He stated Stager has been in jail for “fairly a while” and desires to go to trial.

Benowitz stated he did not object to a November date for the subsequent standing listening to, however he did object to the 60-days time being excluded from the speedy trial clock.

When the choose requested Kearney for a response, she stated, “There is a big quantity of discovery that is still to be produced, discovery that’s … probably helpful in the circumstances of Mr. Stager and the opposite co-defendants. And subsequently I feel it’s in the curiosity of each events and the general public in common that they have the ability to obtain from the U.S. and course of that materials.”

Sullivan requested when the federal government plans to conclude discovery. “I do know it is a advanced case, however all issues should come to an finish,” he stated.

“We haven’t got a date for the ultimate conclusion of discovery,” stated Kearney.

Sullivan determined to exclude the subsequent 60 days from speedy trial calculations.

“These circumstances are very advanced,” he stated. “Discovery is not like something this court docket has ever seen.”

The Jan. 6 riot escalated from a “Stop the Steal” rally in help of former President Donald Trump. The mob entered the Capitol and tried to forestall Congress from recognizing Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Five individuals died in reference to the riot.

Stager is charged with:

18 U.S.C. 111(a)(1) and (b); assaulting, resisting, or impeding sure officers utilizing a harmful weapon.

18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) and a pair of; obstruction of an official continuing and aiding and abetting.

18 U.S.C. 231(a)(3); civil dysfunction.

18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A); getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds with a lethal or harmful weapon.

18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(2) and (b)(1)(A); disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted constructing or grounds with a lethal or harmful weapon.

18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(4) and (b)(1)(A); participating in bodily violence in a restricted constructing or grounds with a lethal or harmful weapon.

40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)(F); violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol constructing.

Two different Arkansans — Richard “Bigo” Barnett of Gravette and Jon Thomas Mott of Yellville — are additionally charged in the Capitol riot.

Barnett is charged with carrying a harmful weapon — a stun gun — into the Capitol and into the workplace of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the place he posed for photographs along with his foot on a desk. Barnett was launched from jail in April pending trial.

Mott, who has remained free pending trial, is charged with 4 misdemeanors over his presence in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

A standing convention is scheduled for Mott on Nov. 22 and for Barnett on Nov. 23. All three have pleaded harmless. No trial date has been scheduled in any of the three circumstances.

Sullivan was appointed to the court docket in 1994 by President Bill Clinton and has presided over his share of “scorched-earth partisan battles,” in line with a Feb. 4 article in The Washington Post.

“He helped maintain alive conservative-led open information lawsuits to probe 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal electronic mail server as secretary of state,” in line with the article. “He extra not too long ago presided over the searing political free-for-all in the Justice Department’s deserted prosecution of Trump nationwide safety adviser Michael Flynn.”