Trial Information
BREAKING NEWS:
As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision on June 28, 2024 that the charge “Obstruction of an Official Proceeding” (also known as 1512(c)(2)), the DOJ has indicated that it will NOT continue its pursuit of this charge against Tom. The Supreme Court ruled that the DOJ interpreted this statute too broadly in its attempt to use this felony charge against January 6th defendants. (The Supreme Court ruled that this charge has to do with “evidence tampering” – for example, shredding documents – and NOT First Amendment-protected freedom of expression, and the right to peaceably assemble and petition our government).
We are grateful that the Supreme Court ruled in our favor.
Therefore, Tom currently has one felony charge remaining: Tampering with Evidence. The bottom line for Tom regarding this charge is this: The DOJ alleges that Tom deleted eleven (11) photos from one Facebook Messenger conversation in an attempt to “hide” these photos from a grand jury investigation Tom knew nothing about. (The photos show no violence or any type of “felony” behavior. They are selfies, crowd photos, etc. and the ORIGINALS are still on Tom’s phone, which were ALWAYS available to FBI & grand jury investigations). Tom’s attorney, Mr. David Fischer, has submitted a motion to the judge in Tom’s case to reconsider our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal regarding this charge. We are hopeful that Tom will soon be cleared of this charge as well. If the judge rules in our favor, Tom will be fully exonerated.
If the judge does not rule in Tom’s favor, then Tom will be sentenced on November 18, 2024. The DOJ is currently recommending the following sentence (remember: this “sentencing recommendation” is for NOT going into the Capitol, nor attempting to do so – and for behaving in an entirely peaceful manner on January 6th): 21 – 27 months in prison, and a fine of $10,000 – $95,000!! Is this justice in the United States of America?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (October 2022 – May 2023)
Tom endured a 7 week long jury trial in Washington, D.C. in Oct – Nov 2022, along with four other defendants. He was charged with the following five felonies:
- Seditious Conspiracy
- Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding
- Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting
- Conspiracy to Prevent an Officer from Discharging Any Duties
- Tampering with Documents or Proceedings and Aiding and Abetting
Thankfully, Tom was found NOT GUILTY of all three Conspiracy charges. Inexplicably, he was found guilty of the two lesser charges.
While we are very grateful for the service and sacrifice of the members of the jury during a long and (in our opinion, unnecessarily complicated) 7+ week trial (UGH!), Tom is innocent of ALL charges.
THE SIMPLE TRUTH: On January 6th, 2021, Tom went to listen to President Trump speak at the White House Ellipse area with his wife (they were enjoying a husband and wife day together – just the two of them), then walked to the west side of the U.S. Capitol where they rested at the Peace Monument (not on Capitol grounds) for over an hour. After Congress was evacuated from the Capitol, Tom and his wife walked onto the inaugural balcony to take selfies (along with hundreds of peaceful Americans charged with NO crimes). After about 5 minutes on the balcony, peacefully taking photos and chanting “USA, USA, USA” – they LEFT. They left the Capitol area and left Washington, D.C. THAT’S IT. PERIOD. That’s all there really is to the story…
All the other ‘stuff’ Tom is alleged to have done or said is just that – extraneous stuff – which has been misconstrued, misrepresented, and has nothing to do with reality. It has only served to obfuscate the truth.
FOR MORE FACTS AND INFORMATION REGARDING TOM’S CASE:
Please refer to Mr. David Fischer’s Opening Arguments, as well as his arguments in our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal.
Tom is an innocent man whose only actual “crime” appears to be that he was acquainted with two people who (unbeknownst to him until January 7th, 2021) went inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
ADDITIONAL UPDATE (May 2023 – Sep 2023)
On May 22, 2023, the judge in Tom’s case held a hearing to discuss our Motion for Judgement of Acquittal (MJOA), also known as a Rule 29 Motion. At the end of the hearing, the judge indicated that he had a lot to consider and vacated Tom’s sentencing (originally scheduled for May 24, 2023).
On September 19, 2023, the judge ruled on our MJOA and denied it. After this, Tom was scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2023. However, this date was vacated and Tom will now be sentenced on April 4, 2024.
To further explain the Court’s Rule 29 (or MJOA) ruling:
- The Court had to decide whether the government put forth sufficient evidence that a “rational jury” could have lawfully found Tom guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is a very easy standard for the prosecutor to meet, because “all inferences and credibility determinations” must be viewed “in the light most favorable to the prosecution.”
- Example: Donald Trump is charged with sexually assaulting Jane Doe. Jane Doe is the only witness for the prosecution. Jane Doe accuses Trump of sexually assaulting her but has to admit, on cross examination, that she has lied about being sexually assaulted on 5 prior occasions and that she changed her surname from “Pinocchio” to “Doe” last year. The jury convicts. Even if the Judge believes that the jury got it wrong, the Judge cannot upset the verdict.
- The very fact that the judge in Tom’s case took so long to consider the Rule 29 motion suggests that the evidence was not strong. However, his hands were tied because he is not allowed to overturn a jury’s verdict except in the most blatant cases of evidence insufficiency (we believe Tom’s case qualified).
After sentencing, we will appeal.