Court Rejects Jury Pool Prejudice Argument in Capitol Riot Case

A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected an attempt by a man convicted of taking part in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, who claimed that the jury pool held "prejudice" against him.

Darrell Neely, a radio host who participated in the riot, was convicted last year of five misdemeanors, including entering restricted grounds among other charges. Neely appealed his conviction, arguing that the jury pool was biased against him due to news coverage of the House hearings on the incident.

However, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Neely failed to demonstrate prejudice in the jury pool, writing, "This Court previously concluded that highly publicized scandal were not sufficient to presume prejudice, even though it determined that coverage of those hearings was likely higher in this jurisdiction than elsewhere."

President-elect Donald Trump has previously said that he would "be acting very quickly" to grant legal relief to those convicted of rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. At least 1,572 defendants have been charged in connection to the incident, with 1,251 convictions or guilty pleas.

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