The 67-year-old was arrested on June 19 and pleaded not guilty to destruction of property last month
Credit: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty; Tasos Katopodis/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A federal judge has granted a request to dismiss the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn
- Last week, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the 67-year-old, a move President Donald Trump has criticized
- Hearn, a former slalom canoeist, was arrested after touching the newly renovated pool’s liner during a bike ride
A federal judge has granted a request to dismiss the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool vandalism case against former Olympic athlete David Hearn.
Six days after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against Hearn, Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman granted the request in part.
In an order filed Thursday, Aug. 6, he said he’d wait to determine whether to grant the dismissal with prejudice, which would in practice prevent the government from attempting to charge Hearn for the same thing again.
He said he would make that decision after hearing arguments from both the government and the Olympian’s attorneys.
Credit: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty
Hearn, 67, was arrested on June 19. He reportedly stopped to look at the newly renovated pool during a bike ride, telling The Washington Post that he reached into the water to see what a detached piece of liner felt like.
Moments later, the former slalom canoeist was arrested, he told the outlet.
Hearn was indicted on one charge of destruction of property of $1,000 or more on July 2. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment a week later, on July 9, according to D.C. Superior Court records previously reviewed by PEOPLE.
According to court records, he was released on his own recognizance.
On Friday, July 31, Pirro filed the motion to dismiss charges against Hearn, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, which note that the damage was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor,” not vandalism.
The motion sought to dismiss the case without prejudice, which could leave Hearn vulnerable to another indictment in the future.
Credit: Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty
Meanwhile, Hearn’s attorneys filed a motion of their own on Tuesday, Aug. 4, in a bid to have the indictment against him dismissed with prejudice, citing “exceptional facts and circumstances.”
The filing read, “The Court should not leave the defendant subject to the possibility of renewed prosecution.”
His attorneys said “all options are on the table” for legal action, including “civil suits, bar referrals for the prosecutors involved, request for sanctions, and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and expenses,” per The Guardian.
As the legal battle continues, Edelman has set a filing schedule for both parties and agreed to schedule a hearing for oral arguments later.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has publicly criticized Pirro’s move to dismiss the charges.
“She said there was no vandalism. There was tremendous vandalism,” the president, 80, told NBC News on Thursday. “So, she made a terrible mistake. I don’t understand why she did such a stupid thing.”
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Earlier this week, the president accused her of having “folded like an umbrella” after the request to dismiss the charges, per The Associated Press.
“Frankly, I think she choked,” he told a reporter in the Oval Office on Monday, Aug. 3.
Trump renovated the iconic pool earlier this year as part of his comprehensive changes to D.C. landmarks and the White House. Work on the pool was completed in June after about six weeks of work at a cost of approximately $14 million.
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