WASHINGTON (AP) – An elected official from New Mexico heads to trial Monday with a judge – not a jury – set to decide if he is guilty of charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol grounds on the day a pro-Trump mob disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
That’s not the only unusual feature of the case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, whose trial in Washington, D.C., will be the second among the hundreds of people charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, siege.
Griffin is one of the few riot defendants who isn’t accused of entering the Capitol or engaging in any violent or destructive behavior. He claims he has been selectively prosecuted for his political views.
Griffin, one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico, is among a handful of riot defendants who either held public office or ran for a government leadership post in the 2 1/2 years before the attack.
He is among only three riot defendants who have asked for a bench trial, which means a judge will decide his case without a jury. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden is scheduled to hear one day of testimony.