As I have stated before I think there was something fishy about what occurred in and around the Capital on Jan 6. … Increased security was turned down! Hundreds of undercover agents in the crowd! Doors being opened as if to invite people in!
However, what I just read makes the situation even worse for those who were charged with various infractions.
It’s my understanding that in a fair trial, the accused has to be tried by a jury of his peers. If the jury pool is predominantly made up of individuals who have diametrically opposed political views compared to a defendant, does this satisfy the requirement about being judged by one’s peers? In general, I do not think that jurors should be asked about their political affiliation or who they voted for in the last election. However, here I am concerned with the jury pool in general. The results of a survey of potential Washington D.C. jury pool participants was just released and the findings are deeply disturbing.
Is there a reason to think that the jury pool is biased against these Jan 6 defendants in the first place?
An analysis published on Jan. 5 by the Associated Press shows that 1,241 people have been charged so far for their participation in the protests, which took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Of those, 905 have been convicted, 768 have been sentenced, and 322 are pending. Only one has been acquitted.
So far, over half of the defendants chose to have a judge decide their case rather than face a jury of Washington residents.
Of the 74 defendants who opted for a bench trial, 72 were convicted.
With the overwhelming number of guilty verdicts is it possible that the jury pool is a biased group even before they enter the courtroom?
Perhaps a survey could be taken. … sounds like a good idea, and so a survey was done.
(For the sake of clarity Edward Jacob “Jake” Lang, a Jan. 6 defendant from Newburgh, New York, who has been incarcerated in the D.C. jail for three years without a trial, is the one who commissioned the survey. It was paid for through donations to the January 6th Legal Fund to support Jan. 6 defendants.)
A survey (pdf) conducted by Triton Polling and Research between Jan. 1-8 and obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times reveals an extreme level of bias among potential jurors living in Washington toward anyone who participated in the protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
For those of you who wish to read about the results of this survey in detail, I need to refer you to the Epoch Times article on 1/25/24 by Patricia Tolson.
What follows are the more egregious results of this survey.
Of the 422 “jury eligible residents” surveyed, 27.5 percent describe Jan. 6 protestors as “insurrectionists.” Others describe them as “criminals” (13 percent), “domestic terrorists” (14.9 percent), or “traitors” (11.6 percent).
The overwhelming majority also “strongly” (75 percent) or “somewhat agree” (14.4 percent) that former President Donald Trump is to blame for what happened, and 76.6 percent “strongly agree” that Mr. Trump’s supporters are racists.
Asked if they thought Jan. 6 was “an act of terrorism,” 63.6 percent said they “strongly agree.” Just 8 percent said they “strongly disagree.”
After informing survey participants that “the penalty for insurrection, treason, or committing an act of domestic terrorism is life imprisonment or death,” 26.9 percent said they “strongly agree” and 21.1 percent said they “somewhat agree” that those penalties would “be a fair punishment for anyone who participated in any of the events of January 6.”
“Regardless of what they did,” participants were asked if “anyone who participated in the events at the Capitol on January 6 should serve prison time.” Most (51.4 percent) said they “strongly agree” and 17.4 percent said they “somewhat agree.”
Most (68.6 percent) say Jan. 6 protesters should be “punished to the fullest extent of the law to prevent anything like this from happening again” and that “America is a safer place with them in prison” (40.1 percent).
Wow!!
Double Wow!!!!
No wonder the conviction rates are so one-sided. From my perspective, there is no way that any of these lemmings who were enticed to go into the Capitol can possibly get anywhere close to a “fair”trial. Actually the fact that Government prosecutors and judges insist there is no evidence to prove that they can’t get a fair trial in Washington is shameful!
Hopefully those who are already in jail because they were convicted by these “impartial” juries can use this survey to get their guilty verdicts overturned. For those who will not be successful and will remain in jail, hopefully President Trump will pardon them all.
2/3/24