Trial Dates Ordered
Heads up! I just uploaded an updated scorecard for the sixteen cases of defendants tagged by the DOJ as “Oath Keepers.” It’s still free, so grab your copy. You do not need the earlier version. Just jump right in to this one.
Top of the list of updates: Judge Mehta issued a trial date certain order on July 6, 2021. The defendants are broken into two categories of start dates: those incarcerated pending trial and those not.
Top Line: those incarcerated pending trial are Kenneth Harrelson, Kelly Meggs, and Jessica Watkins. The other thirteen such defendants were previously released on a variety of financial terms and conditions.
The start date for trial for those incarcerated is January 31, 2021. The second trial start date is April 19, 2021.
The great thing about seeing a date certain order for trial is that it would require a notice of motion with an opportunity to oppose plus a judicial order to change these dates. There’s nothing casual about a “date certain” order.
My guesstimate? These dates may actually hold. There’s a lower level of early fighting over access to discovery than I anticipated. Difficult to fully gauge because discovery in these cases is largely sealed and, thus far, there has only been one motion by the media to gain access to any of the materials. The one motion concerns video excerpts alleged to relate to defendant Joshua James. A decision is pending on that motion.
The cases are in various states of pre-trial discovery, press motions for access to otherwise sealed discovery, and DOJ attempts to reopen judicial decisions granting pre-trial release.
Grab my new book for $20, clear your calendar, and at least read Section A for an in-depth analysis of the first twelve of these defendants.
It’s Monday, so I’m keeping it short for you and pushing this out. Grab the book. Grab the free download update, and let’s do our public duty by keeping an eye on these criminal prosecutions.
