Judge sets trial dates for Polk's Jan. 6 defendants

A judge has set trial dates for four local defendants charged in the U.S. Capitol attack.

Joshua Doolin of Polk City will be the first to face a jury. U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols set a date of Sept. 12 in Washington, D.C., for Doolin’s trial during a video status hearing Thursday.

Doolin is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Nichols also scheduled a trial date of Jan. 30 for fellow defendants Olivia Pollock of Lakeland; Joseph Hutchinson III, formerly of Lakeland and now living in Georgia; and Michael Perkins of Plant City.

Nichols granted Doolin’s request to have his case separated from those of the other three defendants accused of taking part in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Doolin’s lawyer, Allen Orenberg of Potomac, Maryland, filed that motion in February, arguing that Doolin faced prejudice by association if tried along with the four others, who are all charged with felonies.

Doolin, 24, only faces misdemeanor charges. He has been free on bond with restrictions since his indictment in June. Nichols concurred with Orenberg’s argument, according to a summary of the hearing posted on the website of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Prosecutors initially grouped Doolin with four relatives or friends with whom he traveled to Washington to attend a rally for supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Along with Pollock, Hutchinson and Perkins, the Department of Justice last year indicted Pollock’s younger brother, Jonathan Pollock of Lakeland, on charges that include assaulting police officers.

Jonathan Pollock was not present when FBI agents raided the family property in the Kathleen area in June and remains a fugitive. The other suspects are free on bond with restrictions on their movements.

PREVIOUS STORIES ON POLK'S JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT DEFENDANTS:

• 'Extremely dangerous': Feds seek to limit contact between Polk's January 6 defendants
• FBI release video of North Lakeland resident accused of attacking officers outside U.S. Capitol
• At small Lakeland vigil, relatives of Jan. 6 defendants decry prosecutions
• 'Least we could have done': Lakeland Jan. 6 suspect, family members call protesters 'heroes'
• Facebook frenzy erupts after PCSO asks public for help finding Jan. 6 Capitol riot suspect
• Lakeland woman charged in Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol remains free on bond

A federal prosecutor filed a 13-page memorandum opposing Doolin’s request to have his case severed from those of the other defendants. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Moeder wrote that Doolin and his co-defendants are all either friends or relatives and that they moved together in a group during the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Though Doolin only faces misdemeanor charges, Moeder wrote that he at one point brandished a flagpole that a rioter had dropped and pointed it at a line of police officers guarding the Capitol. Doolin also carried zip ties, a chemical irritant canister and a riot shield as he advanced near an entrance to the Capitol, the prosecutor wrote.

Nichols scheduled Doolin to appear in Washington on Sept. 12 for jury selection and a trial. He set a deadline of May 27 for a proposed schedule from the prosecution.

Doolin’s lawyer has requested a speedy trial in previous motions, arguing that the delay in resolving his case has damaged his reputation and earning potential.

Nichols set a video status conference in the case for June 21.

Prosecutors filed a motion last month asking Nichols to block any communications among Doolin, Olivia Pollock, Hutchinson and Perkins without a lawyer present. In the filing, Moeder suggested that the four could be helping Jonathan Pollock to elude capture.

Nichols has not yet ruled on that motion.

The Justice Department has indicted nearly 800 people on charges related to the U.S. Capitol attack, and Florida has the highest number of defendants. The first trials began in March, and some suspects have accepted plea agreements.

Another local resident, Corinne Montoni of Lakeland, was arrested in March 2021 and is being prosecuted separately on charges that she entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She is scheduled for a status hearing on May 24.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.