‘Oh, come on.’ D.C. judge lashes out at Missouri man, attorney in Capitol riot case
Judy L. Thomas
Fri, November 4, 2022 at 7:22 PM·
A Blue Springs man and his attorney incurred the wrath of the chief judge who presides over the federal court in Washington, D.C., during a hearing Friday to set a trial date for his Capitol riot case.
John George Todd III, 33, who prosecutors allege was caught on video making threatening remarks to police during the Jan. 6 insurrection, was originally scheduled to go to trial Nov. 14. But at Friday’s hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — held by video conference — his newly hired attorney said he needed more time to prepare.
John Pierce, of Woodland Hills, California, asked that the trial be moved to October 2023.
Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell was stunned.
“Oh, come on,” she said. “This case has been pending now for some time.” She wanted to set the date for early December.
“This court’s going to be very, very busy with what we’re anticipating to be a number of new cases being filed by the government,” Howell said. “So I think this case needs to be tried as soon as possible.”
But Pierce said with all the other cases he had, a December trial would be a challenge. That didn’t sit well with Howell.
“Well, you understand that when you took this case, there was a trial date scheduled for November 14, and you have professional and ethical obligations, Mr. Pierce, to only take on matters that you can handle given your other trial schedule,” Howell said. “So knowing that this trial date had been set for November 14, how could you take on this case?”
Pierce noted that the November date had been canceled because Todd needed to seek mental health treatment.
“Based on the pretrial services report, he’s getting adequate mental health treatment,” Howell said. “And he seems to be functioning and doing fine.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/oh-come-d-c- ... 13103.html