Oath Keepers attorney not competent to stand trial, DOJ and defense say [View all]

[Nevilledog]

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/oath-keepers-attorney-deemed-not-competent-to-stand-trial-lawyers-say-kellye-sorelle-stewart-rhodes-militia-january-6-capitol-riot/65-70bcd4a6-a1ff-471e-bd96-97fec4ede855

Evaluators hired by the government and defense have determined the former general counsel for the Oath Keepers militia is not currently competent to stand trial, both her lawyer and a federal prosecutor said in court Thursday.

Kellye SoRelle, of Texas, was indicted in September on felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction for allegedly instructing members of the Oath Keepers to destroy evidence after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Building. SoRelle, a lawyer and former Republican candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, was on the grounds of the Capitol with militia leader Stewart Rhodes but did not enter the building. She was also filmed taking part in a meeting between Rhodes, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and others in the garage of the Phoenix Hotel in D.C. on Jan. 5. Tarrio has claimed the meeting was about him seeking legal representation following his arrest a day earlier for burning a D.C. church's Black Lives Matter flag.

After the riot, the Justice Department says SoRelle passed along messages from Rhodes through the Oath Keepers' Telegram chats telling militia members to get ready to oppose the government by force. Prosecutors argued at trial in November that Rhodes used SoRelle's phone as a way to try to distance himself from messages he wrote instructing his militia members to destroy evidence — including one telling Oath Keepers to "DELETE your self-incriminating comments."

SoRelle was scheduled to begin a jury trial on July 10 with co-defendants Donovan Crowl and James Beeks. On Thursday, however, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Hughes and SoRelle’s public defender, Horatio Aldredge, told U.S. District Judge Mehta they had been informed by separate evaluators that SoRelle was not currently competent to stand trial. Hughes said the Justice Department expected to receive the full report back from their evaluator by the end of the week.

*snip*

I'm kinda shocked. In my 33 years of criminal defense it's always been very difficult to find a judge willing to rule someone incompetent to stand trial. It's a very high bar. I remember one client's mental illness that caused him to have almost constant auditory hallucinations. The Dr said it was okay because the voices weren't telling him to hurt other people.