A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the defendant's Jan. 6 conviction for “disorderly or disruptive conduct,” but evidence showed that during his brief presence at the Capitol, he “did not engage in any violent or disruptive conduct.” This was despite the fact that it had been shown that there was no such thing.
The three-judge panel wrote in 18 pages: ruling “Even passive, quiet, nonviolent acts can be considered disorderly based on the surrounding circumstances.” The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel also ruled that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sentenced Russell Alford, who was convicted of four misdemeanors on Jan. 6 for his role, to one year in prison. The judgment was upheld.
“A hiker singing at the top of his lungs on the top of a mountain doesn't disturb you; a library user cannot,” said Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee. stated in the court's opinion. “While it is perfectly appropriate to clap and cheer when a keynote speaker takes the podium, it is usually disruptive to do so after the room has quieted down and he has begun speaking.
“Thus, in determining whether an act is disorderly, we cannot separate the act from the circumstances in which it occurs,” Henderson continued. (Related: Pending Supreme Court ruling hits numerous cases on January 6th)
JUST IN: An appellate court panel headed by Karen Henderson, appointed by GHW Bush, upheld Judge Chutkan's one-year prison sentence for a J6 misdemeanor defendant.
He was “disorderly and disruptive,” the commission ruled, and Chutkan's sentence was reasonable. https://t.co/hqoPhZepYp pic.twitter.com/jT5ktuB8yn
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 5, 2024
The panel also included Circuit Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, and Senior Circuit Judge Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee.
“Alford portrays himself as a passive observer, and his actions understandably fall short of the level of responsibility of many of his fellow citizens,” the opinion states. “But he made a deliberate choice to join the crowd and enter the Capitol, even though he was clearly not allowed to do so.”
Chutkan, who was the first to rule in the Alford case, is overseeing Special Counsel Jack Smith's case against former President Donald Trump over allegations of interference in the 2020 election. She suspended proceedings in the case in December, pending President Trump's appeal to dismiss the case on the basis of executive privilege.
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