A judge has ruled against a Mechanicsburg woman again, the second time in recent months, related to her trial on charges of stealing Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
Riley June Williams, 23, had asked to have her upcoming trial moved out of Washington D.C. so that she could be tried by an “impartial jury,” according to court records.
In her motion, her attorney Lori Ulrich argued that the case should be tried in Harrisburg because Williams lives there, witnesses for the defense are in central Pennsylvania and the location is “not overly inconvenient for government counsel or witness” because it is still close to D.C.
Ulrich also said that it would be more likely to find an unbiased jury in Harrisburg because “the media exposure has been more limited,” and the community was not directly “prejudiced” by the impacts of the attacks like street closures, a curfew and the National Guard presence. These things would have tainted the opinions of possible jurors, she said.
Finally, Ulrich argued, “Harrisburg residents have not been warned that domestic terrorists are threatening their hometown, nor is it overrun by D.C. politics.”
As a part of the motion, Ulrich requested that the trial court provide a jury questionnaire as a necessary precaution to screen out bias in the jury pool.
There was a reference to a survey of “jury-eligible citizens” commissioned by the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia, which Ulrich said showed that they were not likely to “reveal or cure” the prejudicial views of Jan. 6 defendants as a group.
In the court’s decision, written by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, she pointed out that so far, none of the Jan. 6 defendants have had their trials moved before voir dire, the legal term for the jury selection process. This includes cases where the survey mentioned by Ulrich showed a need for a trial to be moved.
Jackson said that voir dire is the proper way to determine whether it is possible to select a fair and impartial jury within Washington D.C.
In addition to that, Jackson commented on Williams’ belief that people from D.C. could not be unbiased.
“[Williams] appears to know little about the city or its people, and she relies on a flawed survey and mere assumptions and generalizations about the jury pool,” Jackson wrote.
Because Williams had not raised any concerns that could not be addressed through the jury selection process, her motion was denied, Jackson wrote.
In July, Williams requested changes to her pre-trial release, which has her on an ankle monitor and under house arrest. She was hoping to have these restrictions lifted but Jackson also denied that motion.
Williams is accused of breaking into the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, and stealing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s laptop before later disposing of it. She was arrested Jan. 18 after police said she participated in the Jan. 6 riots, and later indicted on the charges related to Pelosi’s laptop on Oct. 6.
Talks between her attorney and prosecutors regarding a plea deal broke down last year, and Williams is expected to go to trial sometime in 2023.
The FBI investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection revealed video and photos of a woman that appears to be Williams encouraging people to go inside the Capitol during the riot and directing members of the mob once inside. Posts and video on social media apps, apparently made by Williams, also claimed that she stole Pelosi’s laptop.
Williams is accused of obstruction of an official proceeding; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; theft of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricting building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building.
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