Trinity man changes lawyers in Capitol riot case

Mar. 25—A Trinity man facing charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol probably will get a date during a hearing in May to either plead guilty or go to trial.

Bradley Stuart Bennett's case — which involves a felony and five misdemeanors — has been at a virtual standstill in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., since late 2001, when Bennett fired the attorney who had represented him since his arrest in March 2021, and Judge James Boasberg voiced his frustration over that in a hearing held Friday by videoconference.

"I'd like to keep this moving along because we are far delayed from where we should be," he said before setting a hearing for May 9 for an update on the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nialah Ferrer said she expects that at the May hearing they will be able to set a date for a plea or for a trial.

Friday's hearing was the first since late 2001 in which Bennett was represented by an attorney, but it was not the same one who signed on in early February.

Lisa Costner of the Federal Public Defender's Office in Winston-Salem originally was to represent Bennett, but she withdrew last week after meeting with Ferrer to see some of the evidence against Bennett.

In a court filing, Costner wrote that a conflict of interest exists between Bennett and another person she represents. Her filing did not elaborate on what the conflict was.

Bennett now is represented by Rosemary Godwin of the Federal Public Defender's Office in Raleigh.

After firing his first attorney, Bennett resisted seeking a public defender and instead sought another private attorney. Unable to find one willing and able to take his case, he represented himself and seemed determined to go to trial as his own attorney until he told Boasberg early last month — just two weeks before jury selection was scheduled to begin — that he had contacted the Federal Public Defender's Office.