Capitol Riot Defendants Overwhelmingly Fail in Bids at Bench Trials

     Nicole, Nicole. Nicole Reffitt was and is married to incarcerated insurrectionist Guy Reffitt, the first man to be convicted by a jury or at a trial of any kind for charges related to the January 6th insurrection. Reffitt was convicted by a jury of five felony charges on March 8th, 2022; rioters Thomas Robertson, Dustin Thompson, Thomas Webster, Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli, and Anthony Williams would go on to be convicted on all counts by juries over the next four months, including at least one felony charge carrying prison time in each of these cases. Nicole has become one of the leaders of the alt-right movement that paints Capitol rioters as "political prisoners" and seeks to grift millions of dollars in funds from gullible conservatives across the country, ostensibly for legal costs. Reffitt said that the government wanted to "make an example" out of her husband. (I mean, that is part of the purpose of the legal system and incarceration in any criminal case: to serve as a deterrent to others who might otherwise similarly break the law.) In her statements, she told "J6ers" not to take a plea deal because, "That's the only reason they [the government] have been able to get so many convictions." As with most of her life choices, Nicole Reffitt was wrong about that.

     With six convictions on all counts in the six jury trials that have been held, some Capitol riot defendants have tried to waive their right to jury trials in hopes of getting out of the charges. At first, it seemed like it might be a good idea: in the first trial, Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump Founder Couy Griffin was convicted of one of the two misdemeanor charges against him and sentenced to 20 days in jail and $3,500 in fines and reparations with a year of probation. In the second case, security contractor Matthew Martin of New Mexico was acquitted of two misdemeanor charges. After that, however, things didn't go well for defendants. Father and son Kevin and Hunter Seefried of Delaware were each convicted of a felony and four misdemeanors while Hunter was acquitted of four other misdemeanors. (Not that it made much of a difference.) Nicholas Rodean of Maryland was convicted of a felony destruction of property charge and six related misdemeanors while rioter Jesus Rivera of Florida was convicted by a judge of all four misdemeanor charges he faced. Rioters have only one judge who has made it his mission to stand by each and every one, namely Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a Trump appointee. McFadden has presided over all of the aforementioned bench trials except for that of Rivera, who is pictured above. McFadden delivered the only acquittal of all of the Capitol riot cases and the only two mixed verdicts in these trials, but he also delivered two convictions on all counts.

     Every jury has convicted these rioters on all counts. Nearly all of the judges in these cases have no problem convicting these rioters on all counts before a bench trial. Even the only real exception to this rule, Trevor McFadden, has a 50-50 record on convicting insurrectionists. I expect half of all rioters to plead guilty and another half to go to trial (one quarter by bench and one quarter by jury). Obviously, every guilty plea is a conviction, and the DOJ has been able to get 11 convictions from the first 12 Capitol riot defendants, including nine on all counts. At the current rate, I expect the Justice Department to maintain at least a 95 percent conviction rate in Capitol riot cases, which is well above average and is a number to be proud of. These seditionists have pulled out all the stops to beat these charges, and their latest tactic is relying on bench trials: like their lives in general, they have overwhelmingly failed.