A Capitol Rioter Represented Himself In Court And It Did Not Go Well!

A Jan. 6 Capitol rioter admitted to new crimes he hadn’t been accused of during a court hearing this week, serving as yet another reminder of why you must by no means attempt to act as your own lawyer.

Brandon Fellows, a 27-year-old from Albany, New York, was charged with a number of crimes, including obstruction of an official proceeding, which might land him in prison for as much as 20 years. Fellows is accused of coming into the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riot and was caught on video smoking cannabis in Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office.

However on Tuesday, while testifying in his own bond hearing—he admitted to preparing for the wrong type of hearing—Fellows unintentionally described to the court actions that would constitute more crimes: He admitted to listing the telephone number of a New York state judge’s spouse as his own in an attempt to get the judge dismissed from the case, based on a supposed “loophole” he read about online, according to Courthouse News. 

Fellows additionally admitted to asking his lawyer if he ought to do this in his federal case. Fellows testified that his lawyer advised him: “You didn’t discover a loophole, Brandon, I promise you. Should you do that with Judge [Trevor] McFadden, you’ll be arrested.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fellows’ motion to have his bond status revoked was denied. McFadden informed Fellows that he admitted to obstruction of justice and perjury on the stand. 

“You’ve admitted to incredible lapses of judgment here on the stand, not least of which was seeking to disqualify a New York state judge,” McFadden, a U.S. District Court judge nominated by former President Donald Trump, informed Fellows.

“You’ve engaged in a pattern of behaviors that shows contempt for the criminal justice system, and I just haven’t any confidence that you’ll follow my orders if I release you.”

Fellows is one of several accused Capitol rioters who’ve fired their lawyers and chosen to represent themselves in court. He did so despite being repeatedly warned by his former public defender and by McFadden that doing so was a bad idea. Fellows did it anyway. 

“Although, as Justice Blackmun says, I may be a fool to represent myself, I’m nowhere close to as big a fool as Joe Biden,” Fellows told the court last month. 

Fellows was allowed out on bail, however he was rearrested in July after prosecutors said rambling, obscene voicemail messages for his pretrial services officer and her mom. 

“I’m at a loss as to the best way to advise Mr. Fellows. I’ve never seen a defendant take a stand in a bond review hearing, and I believe there are good reasons for that,” McFadden stated Tuesday. “Any statements you say now might be used against you at trial. I don’t know what you plan to say and it sounds like the attorneys aren’t sure either.”