A U.S. appeals court has overturned the felony convictions of 12 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, a decision likely to result in the release of many of the affected prisoners. On September 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit invalidated convictions for obstructing an official proceeding. The decision follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s summer ruling in Fischer v. United States, which determined that prosecutors had been applying the law too broadly, potentially criminalizing a wide range of routine activities and exposing activists and lobbyists to lengthy prison sentences.
U.S. Circuit Judges Patricia A. Millett, Cornelia T.L. Pillard, and Florence Y. Pan vacated the convictions of the twelve individuals in brief per curiam orders, while sending the cases back to district court judges for further proceedings. Among those affected was Guy Reffitt, the first January 6 defendant to be convicted by a jury, whose obstruction convictions were also overturned. Reffitt’s lawyers, in recent motions, emphasized the Supreme Court ruling as well as a March decision by the District of Columbia Circuit that invalidated a sentencing enhancement applied to another January 6 defendant.
“Fischer requires reversal of Mr. Reffitt’s conviction on count 2,” or the obstruction charge, the lawyers said in a July filing. Prosecutors initially sought additional time to evaluate the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, in August, they filed joint motions with defense lawyers in a dozen cases, requesting that the courts overturn the obstruction charges. In over half of these cases, the obstruction charge was the sole felony conviction. Some of those convicted have been serving prison sentences for years now, The Epoch Times reported.
Following the appeals court’s decision, district court judges will conduct resentencing hearings for the affected cases. U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich is managing Reffitt’s case. Reffitt has been incarcerated since January 16, 2021, and his lawyers have informed the appeals court that he has likely served more time than he would have if he had been sentenced solely for the obstruction count.
The appeals court vacating the count “will result in a resentencing hearing where we hope Judge Friedrich will reduce Mr. Reffitt’s sentencing in light of the decisions by the United States Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals,” Clint Broden, a lawyer representing Reffitt, told The Epoch Times.