In Re: Press and Public Access to Video Exhibits in the Capitol Riot Cases

District Court, District of Columbia·Decided May 14, 2021·No. Misc. No. 2021-0046·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

IN RE: PRESS AND PUBLIC ACCESS TO Miscellaneous Action No. 21-46 (BAH)

VIDEO EXHIBITS IN THE CAPITOL RIOT CASES Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Pending before the Court is a letter, dated May 3, 2021, submitted on behalf of fourteen media organizations petitioning for issuance of a Standing Order to provide “a uniform method of prompt access to all judicial records,” including video evidence, in cases arising from the violent breach of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 (“Capitol Cases”). Pet. to Access Video Exhibits in the Capitol Riot Cases (“Pet.”) at 6, ECF No. 1. 1 Petitioners propose a method of providing contemporaneous access to video exhibits used in ongoing pretrial proceedings in Capitol Cases whereby ProPublica, an independent nonprofit new organization would “serve as the press representative and take on the responsibility of receiving video exhibits from the Government, coordinating distribution of the videos to other press organizations, and making the videos accessible to the general public.” Id. at 8. This proposal is modeled on a plan adopted in another district during a high-profile trial, even though the Capitol Cases are currently in pretrial proceedings.

Both the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (“USAO-DC”) and the Office of the Federal Public Defender (“FPD”) were provided an opportunity to respond to

1 This letter was submitted directly to the undersigned Chief Judge, who is authorized to “take such other administrative actions . . . as in . . . her judgment are necessary to assure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of cases and are not inconsistent with these Rules.” D.D.C. LCvR 40.7(h); D.D.C. LCrR 57.14(h). The letter was then docketed as a miscellaneous matter to resolve the issues raised by petitioners in an orderly and transparent manner.

the petition, see Min. Order (May 3, 2021); Min. Order (May 4, 2021), and both important stakeholders in the prosecution and defense of the Capitol Cases have submitted their views, see Gov’t’s Resp., ECF No. 3; Gov’t’s Resp. to May 5, 2021 Order of the Court (“Gov’t’s Suppl. Resp.”), ECF No. 5; Office of the Federal Public Defender Resp. (“FPD Resp.”), ECF No. 6. Petitioners have replied to these submissions, Pet’rs’ Reply, ECF No. 7, and the petition is now ripe for resolution. I. BACKGROUND Videotape clips showing the conduct of Capitol Case defendants, and others, on January 6, 2021, have been submitted, principally by the government and occasionally by defendants, to the Court for use in pretrial proceedings—usually detention hearings—in many of these cases. The video exhibits have originated from multiple sources, including publicly available YouTube videos, social media postings, seized electronic devices of defendants and associates, body-worn camera footage of Metropolitan Police Officers, and security camera footage from the U.S. Capitol Building and grounds. Still photographs from the video exhibits are frequently presented in the briefing filed with the Court and, unless ordered to be placed under seal, these filings are generally available for public and media access on the Federal Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (“CM/ECF”) system. CM/ECF cannot handle exhibits in a videotape format, however. For exhibits, such as videotapes, that cannot be filed on CM/ECF, the Local Rules of this Court provide, in pertinent part, that:

Any document, exhibit, or attachment, including sealed material, that (A) is not in a format that readily permits electronic filing, such as a map, chart, or DVD, . . . is to be maintained in the possession of the attorney or pro se party responsible for the filing. Such a filing shall be made available for a party or the Court and must be identified in a Notice of Filing filed with the Court. A document or item filed pursuant to this subsection shall be served, if it is necessary to serve it, by mail or by hand delivery, unless the parties have otherwise agreed.

D.D.C. LCrR 49(e)(1).

Since January 6, 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, public access to the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse and the William B. Bryant Annex (the “Courthouse”) has been subject to restrictions to protect public health and safety, with most district court proceedings being conducted remotely or partially remotely using videoconferencing technology. See In Re Modified Restrictions on Access to Courthouse During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Standing Order No. 21-20 (BAH) (April 2, 2021); In Re Fourth Extension of Authorization for Use of Video Teleconferencing and Teleconferencing for Certain Criminal and Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings, Standing Order No. 21-14 (BAH) (March 16, 2021). Nevertheless, public and media access to court proceedings has been accommodated, including through use of public access call-in lines allowing the public and media to listen to court proceedings as they are occurring and, as of April 5, 2021, members of the media have been able, upon request and as space permits, to view live videoconference streaming of court proceedings from the Courthouse.

When video exhibits are submitted in Capitol Case pretrial proceedings, the presiding judge and participants are able to view the video exhibits either before or during proceedings, but the media and public listening on the public access call-in lines are unable to see the video exhibits. This limitation has prompted requests from members of the media for access to the video exhibits in several cases, and such requests have been addressed on a case-by-case basis. See, e.g., Order, United States v. Chansley, Case No. 21-cr-3 (RCL), ECF No. 30 (D.D.C. Mar. 15, 2021) (directing the Clerk of Court to post video exhibits on the Court’s website); United States v. Jackson, Case No. 21-mj-115 (BAH), 2021 WL 1026127, at *8 (D.D.C. Mar. 17, 2021) (ordering the government to provide video exhibits to a member of the news media); see also Min. Order (Apr. 28, 2021), In Re Application for Access to Certain Sealed Video Exhibits, Case

No. 21-mc-34 (TFH) (denying news organizations’ motion for access to video exhibits as moot after government released videos in United States v. Tanios, Case No. 21-cr-222-2 (TFH)). At the request of the presiding judge, Court staff has also shown video exhibits to members of the media at the Courthouse using copies of video exhibits provided on thumb drives by the USAO- DC.

In the pending petition, the group of fourteen media organizations express frustration with the case-by-case approach to providing media access to video exhibits, explaining that petitioning for the release of video exhibits in individual cases has led to delayed release of those exhibits, see Pet. at 3 (citing In Re Application for Access to Certain Sealed Video Exhibits, Case No. 21-mc-34 (TFH)), and objecting to the absence of a platform to provide broad and convenient public access to video exhibits in the numerous Capitol Cases in which such exhibits have been presented to the court but are not available to the public, see Pet. at 5–6 (collecting cases). Consequently, they seek a standing order directing the government to contemporaneously release copies of video exhibits admitted in pretrial proceedings in the Capitol Cases to a designated press representative, ProPublica, for further distribution to news organizations and to the public at large. See Pet. at 7–8.

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