After nearly six hours of closing arguments and rebuttal Monday, two alternates were dismissed and the jury of seven women and five men was led away by a deputy for deliberations.
Afterward, defense attorney Eric Nelson called for a mistrial, citing immense media exposure, particularly a comment by Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters over the weekend in which she said while in the Twin Cities that protesters should get “more confrontational” if there is no guilty verdict.
“I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result on this whole trial being overturned,” Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill said, denying the motion while acknowledging that Nelson’s concerns were legitimate.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Died of Natural Causes From Strokes After Capitol Breach: Medical Examiner
U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes stemming from two strokes a day after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office confirmed on April 19, ending speculation he was beaten to death by pro-Trump rioters.
Francisco J. Diaz, the chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., told The Washington Post that Sicknick died Jan. 7 after suffering from two strokes. He did not suffer from an allergic reaction after being sprayed with chemical irritants as he engaged with rioters, Diaz said.
Two men are accused of assaulting Sicknick by spraying a chemical irritant—possibly bear mace—during the Capitol breach. But Diaz told the Post that there is no evidence suggesting that Sicknick suffered an allergic reaction to the irritants, saying that such a reaction would have caused the officer’s throat to close.
The examiner said he found no evidence of internal or external injuries but he added that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.” Diaz did not elaborate.
Sicknick, 42, collapsed and died hours after returning to the office on Jan. 7, Diaz said. Sicknik suffered two strokes at the base of his brain stem, the examiner continued, which was caused by a clot in an artery that provides blood to that part of his brain. It’s not clear whether Sicknick had a medical condition that would cause that.
With the development, prosecutors will likely have a much harder time in pursuing homicide charges related to Sicknick’s death.
Then-Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen stated on Jan. 8 that the officer died of “injuries he suffered defending the U.S. Capitol,” and added that an investigation was underway, while the Capitol Police said Sicknick died as he was “engaging with protesters.”
But days after the riots, The New York Times and other news outlets—citing anonymous sources—reported that Sicknick was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher. Those reports were updated weeks later to say that his cause of death, at the time, was not determined. The allegation that Sicknick was murdered by protesters was invoked numerous times during the Democrat-led impeachment against former President Donald Trump.
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Ok so is the judge saying that defense atty Eric Nelson didn’t have enough to have it declared a mistrial then and there, but there was enough that when Eric appealed it, it would overturn the whole thing?
Not sure how that works; if Mad Max tipped over the chessboard, how could there still be a game going forward?
Or does it need to get to appeal level before the defense atty can ask for a mistrial?