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The Indianapolis attorney charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has opted for a bench trial on the four federal misdemeanors filed against him.
Quentin G. Cantrell waived his right to a trial by jury during a status conference last week before Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. McFadden also denied Cantrell’s motion to dismiss the charges related to the riot that sought to disrupt the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Cantrell — alongside two of his relatives, Jared and Eric Cantrell — was charged in April with misdemeanor counts including knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building; knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct with the intent to impede government business; violent entry and disorderly conduct, namely, willfully and knowingly uttering loud, threatening or abusive language, or engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct with the intent to impede a session of Congress; and violent entry and disorderly conduct, namely, parading, demonstrating or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings.
A statement of facts says witnesses identified the trio — known in court documents as the “Cantrell cousins” — from closed-circuit TV footage and social media posts Jared created at the Capitol that day. Additionally, cellphone records place Quentin in the geographic area of the Capitol building at around 2:39 p.m. on the day of the riot.
The video footage allegedly shows the cousins entering the Capitol through the Upper West Terrace entrance at about 2:37 p.m. Eric and Quentin are then seen leaving the building about two minutes later, according to court documents.
Images also allegedly show Quentin attempting to climb down an exterior Capitol wall.
All three Cantrells have pleaded not guilty.
Quentin also moved to dismiss the charges against him, arguing the government “failed to produce any evidence to show the requisite mens rea.” Jared and Andrew later joined that motion.
Additionally, Quentin’s attorney, David Issa of Houston, argued that the government’s “titanic” databases related to the trove of Jan. 6 cases “would render the Government’s plan for discovery unreasonable.”
“None of this should continue if the Government cannot produce evidence sufficient to permit a reasonable jury to find that a crime has been committed,” Issa wrote in the June motion to dismiss.
McFadden denied the motion to dismiss “for reasons stated on the record,” according to the online docket. The docket does not yet include a transcript from the status conference.
The bench trial is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on April 3, 2023. Formal waivers of trial by jury are due Oct. 19.
No other hearings are currently scheduled in the case, United States of America v. Cantrell, et al., 1:22-cr-00121.
Cantrell is currently listed as active and in good standing on the Indiana Roll of Attorneys.
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