The lawyer for a Cleveland, Tennessee, man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol said he and his client are frustrated with the "trickle" of case evidence released so far in the government's case against him during a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Joseph Lino "Jose" Padilla, 41, appeared via teleconference Wednesday in court in the nation's capital for what was billed on the docket as a status hearing before District Judge John D. Bates. Padilla has remained in federal custody since his arrest Feb. 23, 2021.
Michael Cronkright, Padilla's attorney for Wednesday's hearing, said his client still hasn't received many documents related to the U.S. government's case against him contained in a 12-count federal indictment.
Federal prosecutor Jacob Strain told Bates that work toward providing government case documents to Padilla and other defendants started recently but problems continue with databases and inmate access to the files in those databases.
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Contributed photo / Joseph "Jose" Lino PadillaCronkright said his client is struggling to participate in his own case.
"It's very difficult working on a case where the discovery just seems to trickle out, and when it does trickle out, it trickles out in fairly large batches," Cronkright said Wednesday, referring to case information related to many or all defendants. "I have heard that there's another big batch of global discovery coming out very soon."
Cronkright said that while he is free to look at case information at his leisure, Padilla has no such luxury and is increasingly frustrated by those limitations. Electronic case files were finally provided to Padilla along with a computer to use on a limited basis to access them in the last few days, Cronkright said.
"I can tell you, your honor, frankly my client is extremely frustrated because he is a very intelligent man eager to assist in his own defense and the communication is very limited," he said. "I wasn't able to send in local counsel recently because the jail is locked down because of COVID."
Cronkright said despite the pandemic, "there has to be a reasonable process here somehow where I can have a reasonable amount of interaction with my client."
Padilla’s charges
According to a 2021 federal indictment, Padilla’s charges include:— Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers.— Three counts of civil disorder.— Two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon.— Obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting.— Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.— Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.— Engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.— Disorderly conduct in the Capitol grounds or buildings.— Committing an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
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Padilla's access to those files is critical to being prepared for trial, Cronkright said.
Strain said the government would not be opposed to scheduling Padilla's case for trial in late spring or thereafter, but Cronkright said he would be filing future motions in search of a more effective process to prepare for trial.
Bates set another status hearing in Padilla's case for April 6 at 10:30 a.m. and told attorneys for both sides he expected to see "real progress" in the case.
Padilla pleaded not guilty in the case March 30, 2021, court records show.
The FBI's Feb. 22, 2021, criminal complaint charging Padilla, identified by a tipster who saw him in videos of the incident, states he was seen in footage from a Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officer's body camera wearing a scuba mask and pushing a police barricade line shouting, "Push! Push! ----ing push!"
Another video captured Padilla pushing the barricade, and police officers removed his scuba mask and began pushing him and striking him with a police baton "to get him to stop," the complaint states. Soon after, another video showed Padilla helping others move a large, metal-framed sign on wheels toward the barricade, where it was used as a battering ram against police, the complaint states.
A few hours later, "Padilla and numerous other rioters began to mass in front of a law enforcement line inside the archway of the U.S. Capitol Lower West Terrace Doors," the complaint states.
"He throws the flagpole at the officers, who are simultaneously being attacked by rioters," the complaint states. The complaint includes images of those actions with the descriptions in the complaint.
Padilla has continued to seek release, but Bates in detaining him has maintained the Cleveland man "poses a concrete, prospective threat to the safety of the community," court documents state.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.