A federal appeals court has turned away the appeal of a Jan. 6 rioter who claimed juror bias.
Thomas Webster, a retired New York cop, went to Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, to prevent certification of the 2020 election.
At the Capitol, he tackled and choked Officer Noah Rathbun, grabbed him by his gas mask (photo, right), and beat him with a flagpole.
Webster claimed “self defense,” but the jury convicted him, and the judge sentenced him to 10 years in federal prison.
In his appeal, Webster claimed the jury was biased, because the Washington D.C. jury pool was full of Democrats.
No argument there (Biden got 317, 323 votes to Trump’s 18,586 in D.C.), but this is arguing for a change of venue, and I don’t know if he even requested one, which he had to bring up before trial.
To get a verdict thrown out on juror bias grounds, a defendant has to establish that jurors were prejudiced against him because of race, or some other improper reason.
Being prejudiced against cop-beaters doesn’t count. They wouldn’t have convicted him if they didn’t believe he was a cop-beater.
Does that make sense?