Jydge gregory holder calls in jury trial#

Prosecutors say four men plotted to kidnap Whitmer out of anger over her pandemic orders and mask mandates, and discussed blowing up a bridge near her vacation home to slow down law enforcement.

Jydge gregory holder calls in jury trial#

The trial is scheduled to start March 8 in U.S. 'With respect to risk to witness safety, the court is sympathetic,' Jonker wrote, 'but also cognizant that such risk is inherent in an investigation model that relies on undercover agents.' Jonker noted he understood the government's concern over the safety of its agents, but it didn't warrant hiding their real names. 'It is time for all guise and pretense to end and for the prosecution to present the evidence in an open forum with witnesses testifying using their true identity.' 'At this point in the case, the court believes the balance of interests tips decidedly in favor of openness,' Jonker wrote. Additionally, they argued, concealing their identities unfairly prevents the defense from performing thorough cross examinations. The agents are involved in other antiterrorism investigations, prosecutors argued, and disclosing their identities could hinder those investigations and jeopardize their safety.īut the defense argued the defendants have a right to confront their accusers and know who they are. In the case of 'Mark' and 'Red,' the prosecution had asked permission for the two agents to use their pseudonyms during trial and to keep their real names from the defense. More: Bad acts of 3 FBI agents will not be mentioned in Whitmer kidnap trial More: Wife beater, liar, schemer: 3 FBI agents crucial in Whitmer kidnap case, defense lawyers say The judge's ruling is a blow to the government, whose case has come under fire over the alleged misbehavior of multiple FBI informants and agents, including two who have been kicked off the case. The other undercover agent, “Red,” was introduced as a demolitions expert a few weeks before the suspects' 2020 arrests.Īccording to the government, the defendants had made several efforts to recruit independent bomb makers, and “Red” was offered to the group in that capacity to mitigate the likelihood of an actual bomb attack. Under Jonker's ruling, the government will have to provide the names of the FBI witnesses to the defense one day before they testify.Īccording to court records, “Mark” posed as a resident of the Upper Peninsula, and was tasked by the defendants with - among other things - scouting out the governor’s summer home. With a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, a documented brain injury from a car crash and no prior criminal record, he made a convincing case for rehabilitation and prosecutors agreed to let him into Holder's special court.'Making it crystal clear to the jury and the public that inside the courtroom, nothing is undercover and everything is out in the open will best ensure fairness during trial and eventual acceptance and respect for whatever the jury ultimately decides,' Chief U.S. Prosecutors charged him with two felonies: discharging a firearm from a vehicle and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.Īs a veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the Army National Guard, Allred was eligible for Veterans Treatment Court, a kinder forum for defendants where the focus is on treatment over punishment. 'I hate you people,' Allred told the clerk. Allred, then a 29-year-old who was arrested and expelled from the University of South Florida in 2014 for confronting a Muslim gas station clerk and firing his gun into the air several times as he drove away. Holder, who was first elected to the bench in 1994, is a veteran and presides over Hillsborough County's Veterans Treatment Court. 'From my perspective, the JQC's action was not based on what Judge Holder was trying to accomplish or why but, instead, how he went about it,' Weinstein said. Holder did not respond to requests for comment, but his attorney, David Weinstein, said he was disappointed the commission had filed the charges against the judge in the first place.