Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant access to Capitol security tapes made available by McCarthy

A federal judge denied a request from a Jan. 6 defendant to access additional Capitol surveillance tapes recently made available by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in an effort to delay her trial and gather more evidence.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg denied the request from Jan. 6 defendant Sara Carpenter on Friday, ruling her legal team failed to explain how the supplemental footage of her actions inside the Capitol building would be necessary in her case. Carpenter faces a number of charges for her participation in the Capitol riot, including disorderly conduct and obstruction of an official proceeding.

Carpenter sought to delay her trial for six weeks to give her legal team time to sift through nearly 44,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage recently made available by McCarthy. However, Boasberg voiced concerns that doing so would set a precedent that could “derail dozens of trials that are set in the next few months.”

Boasberg noted that in order to delay the trial, Carpenter’s legal team would need to explain how the additional footage would be helpful to their cases beyond the surveillance videos already provided by Capitol Police. Prosecutors have already turned over footage that documents the majority of Carpenter’s conduct inside the Capitol, noting only “a matter of seconds” may be unaccounted for.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/judge-denies-jan-6-defendant-access-to-capitol-security-tapes