Joseph Lino “Jose” Padilla, who received six years in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol breach, is among more than 350 people charged with obstruction of an official proceeding who could benefit from a Supreme Court ruling Friday.
But Padilla, 44, of Cleveland, Tennessee, was also convicted on a more serious charge as well, so it’s not clear exactly how he might benefit from dismissal of the obstruction charge.
The court ruled 6-3 that the obstruction charge, enacted in 2002 in response to the financial scandal that brought down Enron Corp., must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents. The justices ruled federal prosecutors improperly charged another Jan. 6 defendant under the code.
The rioters were upset that former President Donald Trump failed to win reelection in 2020 and were trying to stop Congress from certifying the result, triggering the obstruction charges.
The obstruction conviction in Padilla’s case was among eight felony convictions handed down in a May 2023 bench trial.
(READ MORE: Capitol breach charges land second Cleveland, Tennessee, man behind bars)
According to case files, Padilla has filed a notice of appeal on his convictions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but court action was halted to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision.
Amanda Skinner, Padilla’s federal public defender based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, declined to comment on the case when contacted by phone Friday.
“I’m trying to reach my client to discuss his options,” Skinner said.
Friday’s ruling opens the way for Padilla’s appeal to proceed, but no court filings contain information on what the original grounds were for his appeal.
Padilla’s wife, Rebeka, declined comment on the case when contacted Friday by phone.
Padilla has remained in federal custody in Washington since his arrest Feb. 23, 2021.
ASSAULT CHARGE
While Padilla was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, his most serious felony conviction stems from him throwing a flagpole like a spear, striking but not injuring a police officer. A conviction on the assault charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
In his May 2023 trial, Padilla testified he attended Trump’s rally the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, because it was something new. He’d gone to Washington with his brother-in-law and his spouse. Padilla denied he ever belonged to any far-right groups like the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys.
(READ MORE: Cleveland, Tennessee, man takes stand in his Jan. 6 trial in Washington)
According to trial testimony, Padilla in January 2021 was a stay-at-home dad in Cleveland, Tennessee, living with his wife and three sons. Padilla served in the Army National Guard for about 11 years, including time in Iraq as a signal support systems specialist.
Padilla was arrested after an anonymous tipster identified him from videos posted online during and after the breach. Those videos became the focus of most of the first two days of the trial in 2023.
Considerable trial testimony also surrounded Padilla’s posts on social media after Jan. 6. Padilla dismissed his posts as “rhetoric,” “exaggeration” and “internet bravado.” Many of the posts were on the site thedonald.win, while others were on Facebook and other platforms, according to testimony.
On Jan. 7, 2021, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Padilla posted the following message on his Facebook page:
“There’s a lot of memes and posts flying around saying that the people who were fighting last night were all Antifa provocateurs etc. I just want to say that as a first-hand observer of every point of last night, that it was not Antifa. They were Patriots who were trying to Restore the Republic after being attacked by the cops, who struck first. Even those who broke the windows next to the doorway to the Capitol were Patriots trying to find a way to turn the Flanks of the cops.”
Prosecutors said Padilla’s self-portrayal of himself as a patriotic lover of democracy was sullied by his actions.
“There’s nothing patriotic about violently attacking police officers, officers like Sgt. Jason Cropper, detective Sgt. Owais Akhtar, Capt. (Carneysha) Mendoza, Sgt. Paul Riley and officer (Oscar) Corado,” federal prosecutor Doug Brasher said of law enforcement officers who testified in Padilla’s 2023 trial.
In total, Padilla spent three hours on the West Front of the Capitol, breaking through police lines, rallying other rioters to join him and relentlessly berating police, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has charged 1,427 people with federal crimes arising from alleged criminal conduct committed at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a statement issued by Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. In more than 82% of those cases — involving approximately 1,178 people — the defendants were either never charged with or not convicted of violating the obstructing an official proceeding statute at issue in the ruling Friday.
Federal officials said Friday’s decision has no bearing on those cases.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.