Katelynn Richardson
Several Jan. 6 defendants have already asked judges to delay or pause their cases in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign-trail promise of a pardon.
Defendant Christopher Carnell’s attorneys were among the first to motion Wednesday to delay a hearing in his case following Trump’s victory, though a judge denied the request.
“Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump made multiple clemency promises to the January 6 defendants, particularly to those who were nonviolent participants,” Carnell’s attorneys wrote in the filing. “Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6, is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.”
His attorneys wrote Carnell is “now awaiting further information from the Office of the President-elect regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions relevant to his case.”
“President Trump will make pardon decisions on a case-by-case basis,” Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Over 1,500 defendants have been charged for conduct on Jan. 6 as of October, according to the Department of Justice. Just over 1,000 have already received sentences, including 645 who have been sentenced to jail time and 143 to home detention.
Another defendant, Anna Lichnowski, requested Thursday a delay in her sentencing date in order to “seek a Presidential pardon.”
Defendants Jaimee Avery and Nicholas Fuller asked Wednesday to pause their respective sentencing hearings, but both requests were also denied.
Avery’s attorneys wrote it would be a “gross disparity for Ms. Avery to spend even a day in jail when the man who played a pivotal role in organizing and instigating the events of January 6 will now never face consequences for his role in it.”
