Trial judges in Washington, D.C. District Court are already reopening proceedings regarding the Jan. 6 rioters, less than two hours after the Supreme Court’s decision.
The federal judge who sentenced Guy Reffitt, who was the first Jan. 6 rioter convicted by a jury, said in an order Friday afternoon that he would get a resentencing date from his court. That judge, Dabney Friedrich, has told other defendants that they, too, could be resentenced, according to updated court records.
Reffitt brought a gun to the Capitol and was sentenced to seven years in prison, which he is still serving.
In a separate matter, the Justice Department indicated last week that a Supreme Court ruling in Fischer’s case could prompt it to seek a retrial of one of the most high-profile Jan. 6 defendants, Jacob Chansley. , known as the “QAnon shaman.”
Chansley pleaded guilty – without trial – to the criminal obstruction charge and was sentenced to 41 months in prison in 2021. He was not charged with violence, and although he incited other rioters with a megaphone while carrying a flagpole with a spear and wearing horns, Chansley maintained he was largely peaceful.
Chansley has finished serving his prison sentence, but he continues to make applications to the court regarding his case and has two years of court-supervised release remaining to serve.
Not only did Chansley’s image become defining among Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol, but he was also one of the first and rare cases of rioters brought by the Justice Department where obstruction to justice was the most important charge.
The Justice Department said in a filing last week in the Chansley case that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Fischer case “could create a situation in which the evidence must be preserved and the defendant tried” in new. The DOJ did not explain further.
Chansley is currently trying to recover property that federal authorities seized from him and that was used in his case. But prosecutors have said they still need to keep the property because of the possibility of a new trial.
His lawyer recently wrote to the court that his case was closed and final.
