A federal judge on Wednesday issued the first acquittal in a criminal trial stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying prosecutors failed to prove their case against a New Mexico man facing misdemeanor charges.
In a case that could embolden some of the hundreds of other defendants facing minor misdemeanor charges to go to trial rather than seeking plea deals, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden accepted Matthew Martin's argument that he did not know he was breaking the law when he entered the Capitol complex.
Prosecutors were required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Martin knew he was entering a restricted area. McFadden, who was appointed as a judge by Trump, decided prosecutors had not met that burden.Following the Capitol riot, Martin lost his top-secret level clearance and his job as a contractor supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear stockpile in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
McFadden found that defendant, Couy Griffin, guilty of entering a restricted area protected by the Secret Service. But McFadden acquitted Griffin on a disorderly conduct charge, saying prosecutors failed to prove Griffin riled up the crowd.
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