Attorneys for Morgantown resident George Tanios and his alleged Jan. 6 collaborator Julian Khater will check back on the status of the case after a lawyer for Khater expressed frustration that his client hasn’t been able to get efficient access to evidence while in jail.
Elizabeth Gross, the lawyer for Tanios, said that has not been a problem for her client after appeals judges ruled that he should be released on bond while awaiting trial. Tanios is on home confinement.
“Mr. Tanios is able to communicate with council much better now that he is on home confinement,” Gross said today in federal court.
Tanios and Khater, a New Jersey resident, were having a status hearing in their case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Although Tanios was approved for release on bond in August, Khater has continued to be jailed.
Khater’s lawyer, Chad Seigel of New York, described a variety of ongoing problems in jail, including being mocked and the interruption of his sleep. But the main problem has been inefficient access to evidence. Seigel contended the jail, weeks ago, had the evidence that Khater needed to review but then described some sort of software problem.
“I’m not sure what the situation is at the jai other than my client is there, unable to review his discovery,” Seigel said. “I wish I could just hand it to him.”
Seigel concluded, “We need our client to see his discovery.”
U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan alluded to other similar situations and responded, “I appreciate your concerns.”
Hogan set a 3:45 p.m. Nov. 18 date to revisit the status of the case.
Meanwhile, Gross acknowledged that talks have been under way with federal prosecutors on the Tanios side of the case.
“I think we are looking at some options,” Gross said. “I just think that we need to look at our options and talk with George before we file any motions.”
Tanios, who owns a Morgantown sandwich shop, is accused of collaborating with Khater in assaulting U.S. Capitol police officers with pepperspray.
Tanios is accused of obtaining and carrying the pepperspray, and Khater is accused of spraying it at officers, causing them to be injured and resulting in a distraction that enabled others to breach a bike rack barrier outside the Capitol. One of the officers, Brian Sicknick, later died but a medical examiner ruled the chemical spray was not the direct cause.
Tanios and Khater are charged with nine counts including assaulting three officers with a deadly weapon. The charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Tanios has pleaded not guilty.
The mob storming the U.S. Capitol disrupted the constitutional duty of counting Electoral College votes and prompted the evacuations of representatives, senators and Vice President Mike Pence. One woman was fatally shot while trying to climb into the chambers, three others died from “medical emergencies” and more than 100 police officers were injured.
Of the thousands of protesters in Washington, D.C., that day, about 800 went into the Capitol, police have said. More than 600 people have been charged so far.
West Virginians facing federal charges of entering the Capitol that day are former Parkersburg Councilman Eric Barber, former state Delegate Derrick Evans of Wayne County, who resigned after being charged, and college senior Gracyn Courtright of Hurricane.