WASHINGTON, DC – Court cases for seventeen suspects arrested for the January riot at the U.S. Capitol are on hold after their defense attorney contracted COVID-19 and is reportedly on a ventilator.
According to documents filed in federal court on Monday, prosecutors claimed attorney John Pierce “is reportedly ill with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and unresponsive.”
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Pierce is representing six men from Central Florida who were arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 event, Kenneth Harrelson, Kevin Tuck, Nathaniel Tuck, David Lesperance, Casey Cusick and James Cusick, Jr.
According to the filing, federal prosecutors are asking a judge to intervene in the matter.
“For roughly the past week, Ryan Marshall – an associate from Mr. Pierce’s law firm, who is not a licensed attorney, has been appearing in Mr. Pierce’s place at court hearings and meetings with the government. Because Mr. Pierce is unavailable, and Mr. Marshall cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce’s clients, the government is making the Court aware of Mr. Pierce’s reported illness, so that it can take the steps it believes necessary to ensure the defendants’ rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized.”
Prosecutors also claim several phone numbers for Pierce’s law firm have been disconnected.