The case of a Conway man accused of using a flagpole to beat a police officer outside the U.S. Capitol has been continued until Nov. 22.
Peter Francis Stager, 42, was arrested in Conway the day after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. He has remained in the District of Columbia jail since shortly after his arrest in Arkansas.
During a teleconference hearing Thursday in federal court in the District of Columbia, Stager objected to the next 60 days being "tolled" from the speedy trial clock, meaning the 60 days would be excluded.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1), trial must commence within 70 days from the date the information or indictment was filed, or from the date the defendant appears before an officer of the court in which the charge is pending, whichever is later.
But a judge can exclude time from that speedy trial clock for various reasons.
The hearing Thursday involved Stager and four other men all charged in the same case: 22-cr-35 in the District of Columbia federal court.
"The five Defendants in this matter were involved in a series of armed assaults against three Metropolitan Police Department officers," according to a July 20 filing from Colleen D. Kukowski, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Since then, two other men have been added as defendants in the case, but they weren't part of Thursday's hearing.
According to a "statement of facts" filed by federal prosecutors in January, Stager told a confidential informant that he didn't know the man he was striking on the ground with the flagpole was a police officer and that he thought the person he was striking was "antifa."
Assistant U.S. attorney Benet Kearney told the court Thursday that the government needed another 60 days because of the huge volume of discovery, which includes many hours of video connected with hundreds of defendants from the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
An additional 60 days would also give the government more time to discuss "pre-trial resolutions" with attorneys for the defendants in Stager's case, said Kearney.
"Are there objections to the government's request," asked U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.
At that point, Stager raised his hand in a video feed from the D.C. jail that was apparently visible to the judge but not to reporters who had only audio access to the hearing.
Stager's attorney, David Benowitz, who specializes in white-collar and high-profile crime cases, was calling in from another location.
Benowitz is a faculty member at Harvard Law School's "renowned" Trial Advocacy Workshop, according to his firm's website, criminallawdc.com/profile. Sullivan has served as a member of the visiting faculty at that same workshop, according to his biography, https://bit.ly/3CFLp3t.
"Mr. Stager, you have an excellent lawyer," said Sullivan. "The lawyer doesn't know what you want to say. And I have a duty to protect you from saying anything that's going to hurt you, so maybe the best thing for me to do is let you speak with your attorney in a breakout room. Your attorney doesn't know what you're going to say. And I don't want you to -- you know, people start apologizing. They start saying all sorts of things that the government could potentially use against you in trial. I understand you're anxious."
Again, Sullivan suggested that Stager meet with his attorney in a breakout room.
"Your honor, I have nothing to hide, but if you'd like for me to do that, I'll gladly do it," Stager told the court.
"Well, I don't want you to hurt yourself, that's all," Sullivan said. "I know you're not bashful. I know that, and I appreciate that. You're a very smart, articulate man. I just don't want to see anyone put himself in jeopardy by saying something that, if you were in court, your attorney would grab your arm and say, 'Shut up! Don't say it.' But your attorney doesn't know what you're going to say."
"It's not that long, your honor," Stager said.
The judge laughed and asked Benowitz, "So what's your pleasure? You want to speak to your client, counsel?"
"Yes, please," Benowitz said.
"Look, you've got one of the best in the country," said Sullivan. "Listen to your lawyer, Mr. Stager."
Court recessed for a few minutes.
When court was back in session, Sullivan again asked if there were any objections to the government's request.
"On behalf of Mr. Stager, we object to the request for that continuance and the tolling of the speedy trial clock," said Benowitz.
He said Stager has been in jail for "quite some time" and wants to go to trial.
Benowitz said he didn't object to a November date for the next status hearing, but he did object to the 60-days time being excluded from the speedy trial clock.
When the judge asked Kearney for a response, she said, "There is a large volume of discovery that remains to be produced, discovery that is ... potentially useful in the cases of Mr. Stager and the other co-defendants. And therefore I think it is in the interest of both parties and the public in general that they be able to receive from the U.S. and process that material."
Sullivan asked when the government plans to conclude discovery. "I know it's a complex case, but all things must come to an end," he said.
"We don't have a date for the final conclusion of discovery," said Kearney.
Sullivan decided to exclude the next 60 days from speedy trial calculations.
"These cases are very complex," he said. "Discovery is unlike anything this court has ever seen."
The Jan. 6 riot escalated from a "Stop the Steal" rally in support of former President Donald Trump. The mob entered the Capitol and attempted to prevent Congress from recognizing Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. Five people died in connection with the riot.
Stager is charged with:
18 U.S.C. 111(a)(1) and (b); assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.
18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) and 2; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting.
18 U.S.C. 231(a)(3); civil disorder.
18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A); entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(2) and (b)(1)(A); disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
18 U.S.C. 1752(a)(4) and (b)(1)(A); engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
40 U.S.C. 5104(e)(2)(F); violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Two other Arkansans -- Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette and Jon Thomas Mott of Yellville -- are also charged in the Capitol riot.
Barnett is charged with carrying a dangerous weapon -- a stun gun -- into the Capitol and into the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where he posed for photos with his foot on a desk. Barnett was released from jail in April pending trial.
Mott, who has remained free pending trial, is charged with four misdemeanors over his presence in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A status conference is scheduled for Mott on Nov. 22 and for Barnett on Nov. 23. All three have pleaded innocent. No trial date has been scheduled in any of the three cases.
Sullivan was appointed to the court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton and has presided over his share of "scorched-earth partisan battles," according to a Feb. 4 article in The Washington Post.
"He helped keep alive conservative-led open records lawsuits to probe 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state," according to the article. "He more recently presided over the searing political free-for-all in the Justice Department's abandoned prosecution of Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn."