XPost: alt.society.civil-liberty, law.court.federal, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: democrat-criminals@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-appeals-court-sentences-   
   e08abd6d451d954ec3573c9ff515a30e   
      
   A federal appeals court in Washington has ordered a new sentence for a   
   retired Air Force officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol dressed in combat   
   gear, in a ruling issued Friday that could impact dozens of other cases   
   stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.   
      
   While a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld   
   Larry Brock's conviction, the court said a judge wrongly applied an   
   enhancement that lengthened the recommended prison sentence range under   
   federal guidelines.   
      
   The enhancement — on the grounds that Brock's conduct resulted in   
   “substantial interference with the administration of justice" — has been   
   applied in more than 100 other Jan. 6 defendants' cases, said Patricia   
   Hartman, a spokesperson for the Washington's U.S. attorney's office. If   
   the ruling stands, those defendants who have not already completed their   
   prison terms may push for new sentences.   
      
   When asked whether prosecutors will appeal the ruling, Hartman said they   
   are considering their options.   
      
   Brock was sentenced last year to two years in prison after being convicted   
   of a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and   
   misdemeanor offenses. He is currently serving his sentence at a federal   
   lockup in Missouri and is expected to be released in December, according   
   to online Bureau of Prisons records.   
      
   Brock's attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on   
   Friday.   
      
   The obstruction felony charge is already at the center of another case the   
   U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on next month that could upended   
   hundreds of Capitol riot cases. The justices agreed to hear the appeal   
   filed by lawyers for another rioter charged with obstruction of an   
   official proceeding — one of the most widely used charges brought in the   
   Jan. 6 attack.   
      
   In Brock's case, the appeals court said the “administration of justice”   
   sentencing enhancement applies to judicial proceedings but does not extend   
   to interfering with the certification of the electoral vote. That's what   
   Congress was meeting to do on Jan. 6 when supporters of Donald Trump   
   stormed the Capitol.   
      
   "Brock’s interference with one stage of the Electoral College vote-   
   counting process— while no doubt endangering our democratic processes and   
   temporarily derailing Congress’s constitutional work—did not interfere   
   with the ‘administration of justice,’" the three-judge panel wrote.   
      
   It's unclear to what extent Brock's — or other defendants' — punishments   
   might be reduced on re-sentencing. With the sentencing enhancement, the   
   range in Brock's case under federal guidelines was 24 to 30 months. U.S.   
   District Judge John Bates sentenced Brock to the low end of those   
   guidelines, which merely provide direction for judges when they are   
   considering punishments and are not mandatory.   
      
   Brock's attorney has said in court papers that the misapplied enhancement   
   likely increased his client's sentence by about nine months. Prosecutors   
   had recommended a sentence of five years in prison.   
      
   Brock, of Grapevine, Texas, was wearing a helmet and tactical vest when he   
   joined the mob that attacked the Capitol and went onto the Senate floor   
   only minutes after Vice President Mike Pence, senators and their staff   
   evacuated the chamber. Brock picked up a discarded pair of zip-tie   
   handcuffs and was photographed in a widely shared photo holding the cuffs   
   on the Senate floor.   
      
   His lawyer said in court papers that Brock did not pick up the cuffs to do   
   any harm.   
      
   ____   
      
   Richer reported from Boston.   
      
      
   --   
   We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem.  It has none.   
      
   No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.   
   Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.   
      
   Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden   
   fiasco, President Trump.   
      
   Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the   
   The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood   
   queer liberal democrat donors.   
      
   President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed   
   dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)