(WASHINGTON) — A judge on Thursday dismissed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn with prejudice, closing the door to re-charge him in the future.
Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman wrote in an order filed in D.C. Superior Court that the “because the government’s legitimate interest in maintaining the possibility of a future prosecution seems so marginal, and because of the extraordinary possibility that Mr. Hearn will nonetheless face a meritless, politically motivated prosecution, the Court ‘has an obligation to protect him from the uncertainty [that a dismissal without prejudice] entails, and from what, objectively, would be harassment.'”
Hearn, a former U.S. Olympic canoeist, was accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in a felony indictment, but after prosecutors said they found evidence that the government’s own contractor was responsible for the damage, the Justice Department asked to drop the charge without prejudice — which would allow them to prosecute Hearn in the future for the same alleged crime, bound only by a six-year statute of limitations.
President Donald Trump blasted U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro’s move to drop the case, saying she “choked” and “folded like an umbrella,” and continued to push allegations that vandals were responsible for cutting and tearing the pool lining.
Defense attorneys, in asking that the case be dismissed with prejudice, argued that Trump’s public rejection of Pirro’s decision to drop the charges against Hearn did not “provide Mr. Hearn with meaningful finality consistent with the Constitution’s speedy trial and double jeopardy protections.”
Judge Edelman, who in August dismissed the vandalism case against Hearn and said he would wait to determine whether to grant the dismissal with prejudice, touched on “pressure” from Trump in the order.
“… due to the pressure that the President of the United States has placed on his subordinates in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia over the past two months, [Hearn] would be prosecuted for a crime that that same Office has determined he did not commit, and that his odds of future prosecution may be heightened by the nature and extent of his political activities.”
In the order out Thursday, Judge Edelman said dismissing without prejudice would expose Hearn to be charged with a crime that prosecutors have already stated did not occur.
“Today’s dismissal with prejudice ensures that the DOJ cannot bring this case against him again. This decision is a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice,” Judge Edelman said in the order.
“The Court respects the authority of the Office of the United States Attorney to decide which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss. However, in the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense,” the order later states.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hearn’s defense team said in a statement that the “dismissal with prejudice ensures that the DOJ cannot bring this case against him again. This decision is a victory for the rule of law and for an innocent American seeking justice.”
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