Lakeland Jan. 6 riot suspects will let judge, not jury, decide their fate
Accused Capitol rioters Olivia Pollock, Joshua Doolin, Michael Perkins and Joseph Hutchinsson are head to trial in March of 2023. The fifth co-defendant, Johnathan Pollock, remains a fugitive.
TAMPA, Fla. - Polk County resident, Joshua Doolin and two of his co-conspirators, Olivia Pollock and Michael Perkins will soon have their day in court. All three are accused of rioting and storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. However, the trio just decided to skip a jury trial and try their luck with a bench trial.
That means the judge — and only the judge — will decide their fate.
Defense attorney Anthony Rickman reviewed the case for Fox 13. He says Doolin and the others have a better chance with a judge then a DC jury.
"Attorneys who have lost in front of DC juries on January 6th cases say the jury panels have been very pro-government," said Rickman.
There is also the possibility of a tainted jury, knowing the riot happened in their backyard.
"You cannot have a worse fact case for a criminal defendant on trial in Washington, DC than a January 6th riot case. Those jurors live in DC, lived through January 6th, it happened at their doorstep," explained Rickman.
Rickman says another factor that could work in the trio’s favor is that DC Federal judge Carl Nichols was appointed by then President Donald Trump. Recently, Rickman said Judge Nichols has shown leniency in other Capitol riot cases and that could fair well for the Polk County defendants.
"These defendant's think 'Hey I'm more likely to be found not guilty by a Trump appointed judge than a left leaning jury here in DC,'" said Rickman.
While Doolin, Pollock and Perkins are scheduled for trial March 6, a fourth Polk County defendant, Joseph Hutchinson will go at it alone. Court records show Hutchinson fired his attorney and the judge is allowing him to represent himself at trial. The judge also granted his co-defendants’ motion to separate or "sever" his trial from theirs.
In a separate matter, Judge Nichols recently ruled against Doolin and his co-defendants on the use of "inflammatory" language. The defense wanted to muzzle prosecutors from using certain words or labels such as rioters, breach, confrontation, anti-government extremism, insurrectionists, and mob. The judge will allow the terms to be used during the trial.
A fifth suspect, Johnathan Pollock remains a fugitive on the run and can not be put on trial until he is arrested.
Prosecutors say on January 6, Johnathan Pollock, Hutchinson and Doolin charged the fence at the Capitol and began attacking police officers. Federal agents say Michael Perkins attacked a police officer with a flagpole, hitting the officer in the chest and over the head. They say Olivia Pollock also attacked Capitol police and hit an officer in the chest with her elbow as she tried to breach the police line. Documents show Jonathan Pollock is caught on video pulling and dragging one officer down the Capitol steps.
All five defendants are charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, theft of government property, entering a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.