Jan. 6 Proud Boys Trial Paused as Defendant Attorney Alleges FBI Altered Evidence

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The trial of Dominic Pezzola, one of the defendants of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, was paused on Thursday due to classified FBI messages revealed in court, which the defense attorneys say show FBI agents discussing the altering of evidence.

Pezzola is one of the Proud Boys members on trial for obstruction and conspiracy charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. He was arrested on Jan. 15, 2021, and indicted the same month. Pezzolaโ€™s trial began in January of this year.

โ€œThere are a couple of emails between FBI agents casually discussing altering a document and destroying hundreds of pieces of evidence. Itโ€™s very disturbing and right now we have more questions than answers,โ€ Roger Roots, an attorney at John Pierce Law, wrote to The Epoch Times. Roots confirmed that Washington District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, paused the trial on Thursday after the leaked messages were shown in court.

The exchange Roots referred to came into light on Wednesday during the testimony of FBI special agent Nicole Miller, who was involved in the agencyโ€™s investigations of the Jan. 6 defendants.

When cross-examining Miller, Nick Smith, an attorney representing Proud Boys member Ethan Nordean (listed as co-defendant on Pezzolaโ€™s case), revealed classified FBI emails that were hidden in a tab in an Excel spreadsheet. Roots, in Pezzolaโ€™s case, used this evidence to support a motion to dismiss (pdf) the charges against Pezzola, which Rootsโ€™s team filed on Wednesday.

In the motion, Pezzolaโ€™s team said the emails showed that the FBI monitored communications between Nordean and his lawyer, violating the Sixth Amendment, which prohibits invasions of the right to counsel (Matter of Fusco v. Moses).

โ€œIn the Nordean case, confidential attorneys-client trial/defense strategy and position was wrongfully obtained by the government, about which was overheard,ย shared, utilized, where potentially โ€˜338 items of evidenceโ€™ were ordered to be โ€˜destroyed,โ€™ said Pezzolaโ€™s legal team in the motion to dismiss.

Byย Gary Bai

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

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