Prosecutors missed deadline in Jan. 6 riot case

Oct. 25—Federal prosecutors asked for an extra two weeks to figure out how long it will take to get the bulk of the evidence in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to the attorneys for those who have been charged, including a Thomasville woman.

Judge Amit Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia had ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to file information by last Friday saying when that could be accomplished. He had expressed frustration during a hearing Oct. 14 involving members of the Oath Keepers militia group — one of whom is Laura Lee Steele of Thomasville — that defense attorneys still don't have most of the evidence involved and don't know how much there will be to review.

Mehta filed an order Monday extending the deadline to Nov. 5 after the Justice Department filed a document asking for the extension.

The Justice document said that a database for all video evidence, called evidence.com, has been constructed, and the Federal Public Defender's office is distributing information to defense attorneys about how to use it.

The database so far contains nearly 17,000 files of closed-circuit video footage, totaling about 4,800 hours, and nearly 1,700 files of police body-worn camera videos, totaling about 1,600 hours, the document said.

A separate database of documents, called Relativity, so far contains more than 110,000 Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police and FBI records. The document gave no indication that information for accessing Relativity was already being shared, saying only, "We can provide more specific information about when the information in the Government's Relativity database will be fully transferred ... by November 5, 2021."

Mehta also ordered last month that the government expedite the ability for defense attorneys to review evidence with clients who are being held in federal custody.

The Justice document indicated that information about technological needs to do that is scheduled to be shared this week.

Although Mehta issued his order in the Oath Keepers case, judges over other Jan. 6 cases have expressed similar frustrations.

Mehta said at the Oct. 14 hearing he doesn't intend to let continued delays in turning over evidence push the first trial date in the Oath Keepers case past mid-April because the defendants, particularly those still held behind bars, have a constitutional right to a speedy trial.