Judge forces court to give Capitol rioter lesser sentence

 https://www.newsweek.com/appeals-court-demands-capitol-rioter-get-lesser-sentence-1875163

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A federal appeals court asked a lower court to re-sentence a January 6 defendant after finding the Capitol rioter had been handed an improperly long sentence for his crimes.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Larry 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.'"

Brock is the retired Air Force officer who entered the U.S. Capitol dressed in combat gear and carried zip-tie handcuffs into the Senate gallery.

Brock was sentenced to two years in prison last May after a court found him guilty on six charges in November 2022, including for the felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding. The district court applied a sentencing enhancement on his conviction because it found that his conduct resulted in "substantial interference with the administration of justice."

The enhancement, which is used against defendants who disrupt judicial proceedings like court hearings, can increase sentences by more than a year.

However, the appeals court found that the enhancement "does not apply to interference with the legislative process of certifying electoral votes," and thus, Brock's sentence should have been shorter. While Friday's ruling sent Brock's case back for resentencing, the court did affirm his conviction.

"The Court of Appeals' decision will have a significant impact on the Capitol rioters who received an upward enhancement for interference with the administration of justice," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek. "By removing that three-level enhancement, that will reduce their sentencing guideline range by one to two years. The sentencing guidelines are advisory and not mandatory, but most judges stay within that range."

It is not immediately clear how many sentences the order could affect, although it's likely other January 6 defendants will move to get their sentences reduced. More than 332 defendants have been charged with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding or attempting to do so, according to the Department of Justice.

Rioters storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. On Friday, a D.C. court demanded that a Jan. 6 defendant be re-sentenced. SAMUEL CORUM/GETTY IMAGES

The DOJ repeatedly asked judges to apply the enhancement when sentencing Capitol rioters, arguing that Congress' electoral college count should be considered like a judicial proceeding.

But Judge Patricia Millett, who wrote the unanimous ruling from the appeals court, wrote that "Taken as a whole, the multi-step process of certifying electoral college votes — as important to our democratic system of government as it is — bears little resemblance to the traditional understanding of the administration of justice as the judicial or quasi-judicial investigation or determination of individual rights."

She was joined by fellow Obama appointee Judge Cornelia Pillard and Judge Judith Rogers, who was appointed by Bill Clinton.