A federal judge in Washington agreed on Thursday to delay until after Inauguration Day the trial of a Kansas man accused of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after the defendant argued that it could be pointless considering President-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters who stormed the building that day.
Several Jan. 6 defendants have sought in recent days to push back their trials and other court appearances until after Mr. Trump takes office. But the decision by Judge Rudolph Contreras to delay the trial of William Pope, a 38-year-old doctoral student at Kansas State University, appeared to be first time that a jurist had postponed a proceeding directly at the request of a defendant who expected Mr. Trump to pardon him.
It remains unclear if Judge Contreras will issue a written order outlining his reasons for allowing the delay. But after a hearing on the issue on Thursday, Mr. Pope, who is acting as his own lawyer in the case, said in a brief interview that Judge Contreras decided he did not want to waste judicial resources by holding a trial if Mr. Trump might ultimately wipe out a jury’s verdict by granting a pardon.
Mr. Pope’s trial was set to begin on Dec. 2 in Federal District Court in Washington. But last week, just days after Mr. Trump won the election, Mr. Pope filed court papers to Judge Contreras, asking him to push back the trial for at least three months.
“In delivering both an electoral victory and popular vote majority, the American people gave President Trump a mandate to carry out the agenda he campaigned on, which includes ending the Jan. 6 prosecutions and pardoning those who exercised First Amendment rights at the Capitol,” Mr. Pope wrote.
“This outcome and new mandate from the people,” he added, “justifies my trial being continued into the next administration.”
Federal prosecutors opposed the request, saying that the mere prospect of a presidential pardon was not enough to merit a delay.
During his campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly promised to pardon many of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack, though his transition team has not yet put in place a formal policy about how to handle clemency requests.
Several of the rioters, their families and some outside activists who have supported their cause have been pushing Mr. Trump and his allies to create a formal protocol that would offer a broad version of amnesty to the defendants.
The post With Potential Pardons by Trump Coming, Judge Delays Jan. 6 Trial appeared first on New York Times.
