With his seditious conspiracy trial looming in mere weeks, the onetime leader of the extremist Oath Keepers group has asked a federal judge to delay his case once more in light of what he described as a “near-complete breakdown in communication” with his attorneys.
Presiding U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will now hear the request during an emergency hearing set for 3:30 PM Wednesday.
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Oath Keeper ringleader Elmer Rhodes filed a motion requesting his seditious conspiracy trial be delayed 90 days beyond the anticipated Sept. 26 start time. Today, Judge Mehta set a hearing on this request fort 3:30 PM ET. Listen in here: 877- 848-7030. Code: 321-8747. pic.twitter.com/RxZdAuB161
Rhodes says he needs more time—three more months to be exact—before the Sept. 26 trial date to prepare with his lawyers. According to the 20-page filing entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Rhodes has suggested too that he would prefer to face charges solo.
“’Codefendants have had almost a year more than Rhodes to prepare for trial,’ the motion states.”
If the request were granted, that would mean his case would be altogether severed from current co-defendants facing seditious conspiracy including Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Thomas Caldwell, and Jessica Watkins.
Oath Keeper co-defendant Kenneth Harrelson saw his request to sever himself from Rhodes denied ahead of a hearing where Rhodes will ask 1) to have his September trial delayed; 2) to substitute his counsel and 3) to have himself severed from co-defendants.
In addition to Judge Mehta denying the request from Harrelson, on Wednesday federal prosecutors filed their motion opposing Rhodes’s requests. They argue Rhodes has had sufficient time to review discovery and note that he has requested multiple delays in the past for the same reasons. Prosecutors also challenged whether the nature of Rhodes’s relationship with his attorneys James Lee Bright and Phil Linder was sufficiently broken and whether a substitute counsel was needed at this late stage. Jury selection begins Sept. 26 and the trial is currently on track to begin Sept. 27.
New: Ahead of today's hearing where Oath K'er Elmer Rhodes will ask for a trial delay & to be severed from codefendants in the upcoming seditious conspiracy trial, Judge Mehta has now denied a similar request from Rhodes's co defendant Kenneth Harrelson. https://t.co/rpSTceu2cGhttps://t.co/KysefggW6Epic.twitter.com/FkGJJOjDFR
NOW: Judge Mehta says during hearing on Wednesday that he will not delay Rhodes’s seditious conspiracy trial date, slated to start Sept. 27.
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NOW: Judge Amit Mehta says he will NOT delay Oath Keeper Elmer Rhodes's seditious conspiracy trial beyond Sept 27 and tells Rhodes if he wants new atty Ed Tarpley to be there, they can make room for him.
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