Judge opens door for media access to video evidence in Capitol riot cases

A federal judge on Friday issued a standing order in prosecutions against Capitol rioters that will allow media organizations to obtain prosecutors’ video evidence.

The ruling from District Court Judge Beryl Howell will implement a process for federal prosecutors to make public their video exhibits in cases stemming from the Jan. 6 riot. Under the new standing order, defendants in those cases will have the opportunity to object to the release of video exhibits if they think it will be prejudicial for a potential jury.

Judges will ultimately decide whether videos should be released on a case-by-case basis, but the order Friday will apply a uniform standard for allowing media organizations to obtain some potentially unseen footage from Jan. 6.

Under the standing order, if judges approve of the release of video exhibits, media organizations will be able to access media files from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C., which is leading the prosecutions.

The order comes in response to a motion from 14 media organizations that asked Howell to streamline the process for public access to the footage.

“While we appreciate the extraordinary workload these prosecutions present to the hardworking Judges and staff of this Court, delayed access to these historic records shuts the public out of an important part of the administration of justice,” the news organizations wrote to the court.

The Justice Department has brought more than 400 prosecutions against those who participated in the events Jan. 6. None of the cases have yet gone to trial but judges have relied on video evidence in deciding pretrial motions like whether to allow defendants to be released on bail.