The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that former North Cornwall Township police officer Joseph Fischer, who joined the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, may not have to stand trial on a criminal charge of obstructing an official proceeding, which carries a potential 20-year jail sentence.
Fischer was fired by North Cornwall later in 2021.
The 6-3 ruling by the nation’s highest court also applies to hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants charged with the same offense, including former President Donald Trump.
Federal prosecutors allege that Fischer and his fellow rioters invaded the Capitol in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump.
The charge in question, a 2002 law passed by Congress, imposes criminal liability on anyone who corruptly “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding.”
Another section of the law extends that offense to anyone who “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said prosecutors interpreted the law too broadly, giving them too much discretion to seek a 20-year maximum sentence “for acts Congress saw fit to punish only with far shorter terms of imprisonment.”
The 6-3 decision did not split along the court’s usual ideological lines. Roberts was joined in the majority by Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, and Jackson. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Barrett dissented.
The ruling sends Fischer’s case back to the federal district court to determine whether prosecutors can show that Fischer’s actions impaired Congress’ use of records, documents, or other objects in certifying the election results.
Altogether, Fischer faces trial on seven criminal charges arising from his alleged role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
Fischer has been free on court-approved pretrial release, under the supervision of the federal Office of Probation and Pretrial Services, since shortly after his arrest in February 2021.
In March, prosecutors filed an “Unopposed Motion to Modify Conditions of Release,” alleging that Fischer “last month” contacted an unidentified “local public official” via social media and said “By the way … Go F**k yourself. If you believed one word from your FBI buddy, then you’re really stupid. When I win, your name will be one of the first on my lips. You’re already in my book.”
While Fischer did not deny those allegations, the District of Columbia federal court, where the charges are filed, never acted on the government’s motion.
Fischer has been represented throughout his case by the Federal Public Defender.
Read More:
- U.S. Supreme Court will hear appeal of ex local cop charged with January 6 crimes
- Ex-cop facing Jan. 6 charges won’t fight claim he threatened a ‘local official’
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