A judge permanently dismissed the Trump administration's criminal case against Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who was previously charged with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The case had already been dismissed at the request of the U.S. attorney for Washington, DC, Jeanine Pirro. Pirro said in a July 31 court filing that the Justice Department based its indictment on "less than fulsome information" from the Department of the Interior, which has since provided evidence suggesting the damage was caused by flawed installation during a rush to complete renovations ahead of President Donald Trump's summer "America 250" celebration.
However, that earlier dismissal didn't prevent the DOJ from bringing the case again.
Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn stands with his lawyer as they speak to reporters following Hearn’s arraignment on a felony destruction of property charge related to “vandalizing” the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, at DC Superior Court in Washington, D.C., July 9.
Lawyers for Hearn asked the District of Columbia Superior Court to block prosecutors from re-charging Hearn, pointing to Trump's public statements criticizing Pirro for dropping the case and arguing the DOJ has shown a "willingness to seek or reinstate criminal charges to satisfy the President, irrespective of the law or facts."
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Judge Todd E. Edelman wrote in his Thursday order that allowing the DOJ to bring the case again — or even to be able to threaten to do so — "would not account for the exceptional circumstances presented by this case."
Trump criticized Pirro's decision to drop the case, demanded she reinstitute it and publicly entertained firing her for dropping it in the first place, Edelman wrote.
"While all defendants deal with some degree of uncertainty regarding the odds of re-prosecution after a case has been dismissed, Mr. Hearn faces the unique possibility that the government will revive this case — one that it has already announced to be meritless — based on political pressure brought by the President of the United States upon his subordinate officers," Edelman wrote in his decision.
The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House referred USA Today to multiple social media posts Trump made in August. In them, Trump continued to allege that vandals damaged the pool and said anyone who thinks otherwise "should go back to Law School!"
Lawyers for Hearn said in a statement that the decision is "a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice."
"This was a miscarriage of justice, and what happened to Mr. Hearn is an outrage that should shock every American," the lawyers, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin, added.
What happened in Hearn's case?
An aerial view, taken through the window of an airplane, of the National Mall, including the Washington Monument and ongoing construction at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, in Washington, D.C., Sept. 16.
Hearn was initially arrested on June 19, although prosecutors didn't charge him with a felony for two more weeks. In the meantime, Trump publicly weighed in on damage to the Reflecting Pool, which had been under renovations at his direction. Trump told reporters on June 22 that vandals had damaged the pool, including by making a 350-foot slit running from one end to the other.
"I saw it. They cut it. They cut it very violently. The same thing with the floor. They cut it and then they lifted it. They pulled it. And that's what it is," Trump told reporters.
On July 2, Pirro announced at a press conference that her office had secured a felony indictment against Hearn, accusing him of ripping a piece of recently installed sealant and causing more than $1,000 in damage.
"The evidence shows, and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," she alleged.
However, Pirro and others on her team visited the pool 15 days later when it was drained, and a defense expert for Hearn was inspecting it, according to her own July 31 court filing. There, they saw extensive damage throughout the pool.
"It was at that time that [Pirro's office] first became aware of the significant damage throughout the pool and accordingly requested all documents from DOI concerning … how the pool was lined and all records regarding the installation of the lining," Pirro said in the filing.
Hearn's legal team later argued that the truth about the case was apparent much earlier, when they said a June 30 government damage assessment tipped prosecutors off to the idea that the pool liner was suffering from systemic failure.
"Forgive me if I find it hard to accept the claim that they did not know this until they went back to the Department of the Interior. It does not hold water," Hearn's lawyer Norm Eisen previously told USA Today.
