The Purple Heart Defendant

Joshua James is the recipient of a Purple Heart.  He served four years as part of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” with the United States Army and was medically retired.  He sustained life threatening injuries in a series of bombings, prior to his 20th birthday.  That he was airlifted to a medical facility and eventually had to undergo multiple facial reconstruction surgeries, including the implantation of titanium plates in his face, tells much of his journey as a young man.  That he is a Veteran diagnosed with PTSD should not surprise any of us who were not there to serve beside him.

 Mr. James is 33 years old, married to Audrey, and is the father of three, Alivia (14 years old), Quinton (11 years old), and Wyatt (3 years old).  He owns a business, American Pro Hydro Services, that has him out and about in his community as a fixer and a helper.  The business has 79 on-line 5-star customer reviews.  And when it came time to gather letters of support for Mr. James, more than fifteen people came forward with written letters for the court that included their names on his behalf.  Among those pages, the description emerges of Mr. James’ volunteer services assisting damaged communities in Florida, Texas, and Alabama after hurricane and tornado damage.

 Mr. James was arrested in Alabama on March 9, 2021 in connection with the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.  The FBI Agent who handled the transport, Mr. Paul Jones, described himself as “kind” for unlocking Mr. James’ handcuffs and only leaving him restrained by the belly chain for the 90-minute transport from Arab, Alabama to Birmingham to the U.S. Marshals to transfer the custody.  The FBI Agent testified that he offered the prisoner water and bought him a cheeseburger at a McDonald’s drive-through, along the way.

Mr. James entered the federal criminal justice system on March 9, was denied pre-trial release on March 11, and was then granted pre-trial release on March 26.  In that subsequent detention ruling, the District Court Judge found that the prior Magistrate Court Judge “committed an error” in the initial denial of pre-trial release.

The US DOJ wanted Mr. James held-over pending trial.  Attorneys for both sides engaged in motion practice in March and April.  The original detention hearing was held March 11 before the United States Magistrate Court in Alabama.  Another detention hearing was held April 12 before the United States District Court in Washington, D.C.  US DOJ attorneys made a third attempt to re-jail Mr. James, at which point, the D.C. District Court Judge admonished the government prosecutors that they don’t have a right to keep trying until they got a hold-over.

As found by D.C. District Court Judge Mehta:

“One, the government has conceded thus far it doesn’t have any evidence that prior to January 6th, there was at least express discussion involving Mr. James of an incursion on the Capitol.  And so, to the extent there was planning and preparation, at least prior to the 6th that didn’t have to do with – at least the evidence is it didn’t have to do with entering the Capitol grounds or disrupting the congressional proceeding, one.

“And, two, to the extent that there was a conspiracy, my view is that the conspiracy largely seemed to have come together on the 6th, and really, perhaps, the minutes prior to the decision of these 10 other defendants in this case to actually enter the Capitol grounds.”

Mr. James remains on pre-trial release, with a trial date scheduled to begin April 19, 2022.  His pre-trial release conditions have been modified three times, upon consent.  There has been no indication Mr. James has failed to comply with the terms and conditions set for his pre-trial release, including the relinquishment of his firearms pending trial and his prohibition from possessing or using firearms pending trial.  Mr. James is also prohibited from any contact with, specifically, the Oath Keepers.

Turning back to the testimony of the government FBI witness at the March 11 detention hearing, on cross-examination, he admitted:

• no knowledge of Mr. James as a member of the Oath Keepers;

• no knowledge whether Mr. James had read a particular Oath Keepers website post; and,

• no knowledge whether Mr. James shared the particular beliefs the FBI and the DOJ have ascribed to the Oath Keepers. 

The FBI Agent was aware a warrant had been executed by other FBI Agents on Mr. James’ home where (it was highlighted on direct) there were three ARs, a hunting rifle, a couple of handguns, and some .223 and 5.56 ammunition, all of which was found and left there because (it was drawn out on cross-examination) the ammunition was the proper caliber for the firearms + there was nothing illegal about owning such firearms.

Mr. James has at least twice prior been inside the Beltway.  He’d been in Washington, D.C. in November and December 2020 for MAGA I and II.  He wasn’t arrested or charged then.  There are no allegations in any of five indictments claiming any illegal conduct on those two prior dates.

The new “Fifth Superseding Indictment,” filed August 4, 2021 by the DOJ, is consistent with the “Fourth” (earlier) and “Third” (earlier still) Grand Jury Indictments.  The FBI/DOJ have Mr. James walking into the U.S. Capitol building at 3:15 pm and exiting the building at 3:22 pm.  Photographs and videos submitted by the US DOJ at the first detention hearing include, per the FBI Agent, Mr. James, inside the U.S. Capitol, talking to law enforcement in a relaxed manner, hands by their sides, as others moved about the area. 

Funnily enough, the FBI Agent testified that he, himself, hadn’t been there (to the U.S. Capitol) since he was a kid and didn’t really know if the grounds or the building were closed to the public on January 6.  As he characterized his own thoughts on Mr. James, FBI Agent Jones said:

“…I was looking forward to speaking to Mr. James about his military experience prior to even encountering him.”

None of this, that I can tell, has been covered by the media, even though all of this is in the public record.  It’s going to be up to us to get to know these Defendants from the growing hundreds of pages of documents filed by both sides, and to keep up with it.

More on Mr. James tomorrow. In the meantime, please share.