United States v. Carnell

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CHRISTOPHER CARNELL and DAVID WORTH BOWMAN, Defendants.
• Decision Date: 15 February 2024
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
• Docket Number: CRIMINAL 23-139

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CHRISTOPHER CARNELL and DAVID WORTH BOWMAN, Defendants.

CRIMINAL No. 23-139

United States District Court, District of Columbia

February 15, 2024

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BERYL A. HOWELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE

DefendantsChristopher Carnell and David Worth Bowman were convicted following a trial based on stipulated facts on February 12 2024, on all counts of a six-count indictment, including violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1752(a)(1)(Count Two) and (a)(2)(Count Three), along with three other misdemeanor offenses and one felony offense.^[1]In advance of the stipulated trial, defendants moved to dismiss Counts Two and Three Defs.' Mot. Dismiss Counts Two and Three (“Defs.'MTD”), ECF No. 53;Def Carnell's Mot. to Adopt and Join Co-Def.'sMot., ECF No. 56; Minute Order (Dec. 28, 2023)(“permitting defendant to join co-defendant['s] . . . Motion to Dismiss Counts Two and Three”), which allege that defendants“did knowingly enter and remain in a restricted building and grounds . . . without lawful authority to do so,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1), and that defendants“did knowingly, and with intent to impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, engage in disorderly and disruptive conduct in and within such proximity to, a restricted building and grounds . . . when and so that such conduct did in fact impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2).Indictmentat 2, ECF No. 22.Defendants' convictions stem from their offense conduct, on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and grounds after they attended a rally and heard former President Donald J. Trump speak.Upon arriving at the Capitol grounds, defendants made their way through the breached Senate Wing doors into the U.S. Capitol Building, joining the crowd in overwhelming police inside the Crypt and, again, in the Rotunda, before spending about six minutes on the floor of the Senate Chamber, when that entire area was “a restricted building and grounds” where “the Vice President was and would be temporarily visiting.”Id.;Carnell's Statement of Facts and Elements for Stipulated Trial (“Carnell's SOF”)¶¶ 15-19, 21, ECF No. 76-1;Bowman's Statement of Facts and Elements for Stipulated Trial (“Bowman's SOF”)¶¶ 15-19, 23, ECF No. 76-2(where identical, cited as “Defs.'SOF”).

Defendants seek dismissal of Counts Two and Three, under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(B)(iii) and (b)(3)(B)(v), on grounds that these two Class A misdemeanor charges lack specificity, fail to state an offense and are violative of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process clause under the U.S. Constitution.See generally Defs.'MTD.Relatedly, defendants raise additional arguments in another motion-which, though styled as a motion in limine, does not seek guidance on what evidence would be admissible at trial and instead proposes jury instructions normally addressed at a charging conference-for the Court“to define terms subject to dispute between the parties and to establish the elements of 18 U.S.C. § 1752 for Counts Two and Three.”Defs.' Mot. in Limine for Counts Two and Three (“Defs.'MIL”), ECF No. 42; Minute Order (Dec. 28, 2023)(“permitting defendant[Bowman] to join co-defendant['s][]Motion In Limine for Counts Two and Three”).Defendants preserved their right to appeal their convictions on Counts Two and Three, as well as on Count One, which charges a violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(c)(2)and2.Seesupra n.1;Bowman'sSOF ¶¶ 30-31;Carnell'sSOF ¶¶ 23-24;Parties' Jt. Submission Preserv. Appeal Rights on Section 1752 Countsat 1-2, ECF No. 92;Agreement and Waiver of Jury Trial Rightsat 2, ECF No. 96.

Defendants' motion to dismiss and motion in limine as to Counts Two and Three were denied orally at the trial on stipulated facts, with the explanation for that decision to follow shortly.That explanation is set out in this Memorandum Opinion.

I.FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The parties stipulated, as supplemented with evidence submitted as exhibits by the government, that on January 6, 2021, defendants were among those who “traveled . . . to Washington, D.C. . . .to attend a rally at the Ellipse that featured speeches from individuals including former President Donald Trump.”Defs.'SOF ¶ 11;Gov't'sEx. 12.1(video of defendants attending portion of former President Trump's rally at the Ellipse, with Trump's voice clearly audible).Meanwhile, “a joint session of the United States Congress convened at the Capitol” to “certify the vote count of the Electoral College of the 2020 Presidential Election,” with “Vice President Pence present and presiding over the Senate.”Defs.'SOF ¶¶ 3-4.“Restrictions around the Capitol include[d] permanent and temporary security barriers and posts manned by” U.S. Capitol Police (“USCP”), with “[o]nly authorized people with appropriate identification [] allowed access inside,”id.¶ 1, and “the exterior plaza of the Capitol [] closed to members of the public,”id.¶ 2.^[2]“After attending the rally,”id.¶ 12, defendants“enter[ed] the restricted area on [the] Capitol Grounds,”id.¶ 13.^[3]“Temporary and permanent barricades . . . were in place around the exterior of the Capitol, and USCP officers were present and attempting to keep the crowd away from the Capitol and the proceedings underway inside.”Id.¶ 4.Defendants“climbed through scaffolding on the northwest side of the Capitol” and “walked across the Northwest Courtyard toward the Senate Wing Door” while “a group of uniformed officers were visibly protecting another entry point into the Capitol Building.”Id.¶¶ 13-14;see alsoGov't'sExs. 13-14(images of defendants amassed by U.S. Capitol scaffolding and crossing Northwest Courtyard).Undeterred, defendants“entered the Capitol with no lawful authority through the Senate Wing Door,” as “the Building's alarm system was audibly blaring” and minutes after “other rioters had smashed in the windows flanking the Senate Wing Doors, rendering the windows visibly shattered.”Defs.'SOF ¶ 15;see alsoGov't'sEx. 15.1(CCTV footage of defendants' entry through Senate Wing Doors).

Defendants then went to the Crypt and joined a crowd “as it overwhelmed the USCP officers who were attempting to prevent the rioters from entering further into the Capitol.”Defs.'SOF ¶ 16;see alsoGov't'sEx. 16.1(video of defendants joining crowd in Crypt).From there, defendants“traveled into and through the Capitol Rotunda and joined a crowd as it amassed near the Rotunda Door,”Defs.'SOF ¶ 17, where Carnell “join[ed] the crowd as they chanted,” repeatedly, “‘treason,'” Criminal Compl., Statement of Facts (“SOF”)at 7, ECF No. 1-1;see alsoDefs.'SOF ¶ 17.At 2:41 p.m., defendants“ascended the Rotunda Lobby East Stairs” and “observed other rioters physically attacking a female journalist.”Defs.'SOF ¶ 18.Nevertheless, defendants persisted in remaining in and traversing inside the Capitol building.

Nearly ten minutes later, at 2:49 p.m., defendants“unlawfully enter[ed] the Senate floor.”Criminal Compl., SOFat 6;see alsoGov't'sEx. 19.1(image of defendants' entry onto Senate floor).Bowman “understood that Vice President Pence and the Senators needed to ‘determine something that would've been very consequential for Trump-that's why things were so heated' that day,” though he“believed the certification to be occurring in the House chamber.”Bowman'sSOF ¶ 19;see alsoGov't'sEx. 28(excerpt of audio recording of Bowman's statements during December 2022 interview with the FBI).Nevertheless, while in the Senate chamber, “other rioters were loudly discussing that the ‘chair' on the Senate Dais ‘belongs to the Vice President of United States when he's in here,' to which one rioter responded, ‘they can steal our election but we can't sit in their chairs?!”Defs.'SOF ¶ 19;see alsoGov't'sEx. 19.3(video capturing rioters' discussion).

“At or around 2:55 p.m., [defendants] left the Senate chamber” and, after being “directed to exit the Capitol by uniformed law enforcement officers,” at 2:56 p.m., they“left the Capitol through the Senate Carriage Door.”Carnell'sSOF ¶ 21;Bowman'sSOF ¶ 23.

“Vice President Pence remained in the Capitol from the time he was evacuated from the Senate Chamber” around 2:20 p.m., “until the [joint] session [to certify the vote count] resumed.”Defs.'SOF ¶ 7.Given the “dangerous circumstances caused by the unlawful entry to the Capitol . . . Congressional proceedings could not resume until after every unauthorized occupant had been removed from or left the Capitol, and USCP confirmed that the building was secured,” which did not occur before “approximately 8:00 p.m.”Id.

Two days later, in a text message conversation with three individuals with whom Bowman had corresponded leading up to and on January 6, 2021, including Carnell and another individual, Aiden Henry Bilyard, Bowman texted a “link to a news story including an image taken from the Senate floor on January 6, 2021.”Bowman'sSOF ¶¶ 9, 26;see alsoGov't'sExs 26-27(photo of text message).^[4] Asked whether he had gotten “inside,”Bowman'sSOF ¶ 27, Bowman replied, “if I was buying textbooks for next semester, I would have hypothetically gotten into the book store and even walk[ed] the checkout floor where all the professors usually buy books and sometimes choose what books their students would read,”id.¶ 27(brackets in original);see alsoGov't'sExs. 26-27.In response to Bilyard's message stating, “what you're saying is that you got into a private library of sorts,” Bowman answered, “In Minecraft school yes[.]But no[.]”Bowman'sSOF ¶ 28(brackets in original);see alsoGov't'...