Two Jan. 6 defendants are asking the Supreme Court to correct what they argue is “prosecutorial overcharging” before their cases go to trial.
Edward Lang and Garrett Miller, who allegedly both entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, are asking the Supreme Court to dismiss an obstruction charge against them before their trials, alleging prosecutors broadened an unrelated statute to “over-penalize” those who participated in the riots, according to their petitions. If the Supreme Court takes the case, it could have broad implications for hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants indicted under the statute.
The law under consideration is Section 1512(c)(2), which carries a maximum 20 year prison sentence for anyone who “obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding.” Though the statute was passed to fight evidence tampering, government prosecutors have reasoned that Lang and Miller, along with many other Jan. 6 defendants, obstructed an official proceeding by attempting to disrupt Congress from certifying the election results.
