DOJ seeks to keep door open to re-charge David Hearn in Reflecting Pool case

Justice Department Wants Option to Reindict David Hearn Over Reflecting Pool Damage

Tyunews.com – In a filing submitted Tuesday, federal prosecutors urged the court to dismiss the vandalism case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn without prejudice — a procedural choice that preserves the government’s ability to bring charges again later. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro pushed back against the defense’s request for a final, with-prejudice dismissal, contending that such a permanent bar is unnecessary to shield the defendant from future overreach.

“Dismissal with prejudice is not necessary to protect the defendant from any future risk of prosecutorial overreach here.”

The filing added that should the matter ever be brought back before a grand jury, that body’s procedures would afford the accused substantial safeguards.

Judge Edelman’s Earlier Ruling Sets the Stage

Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman had already thrown out the vandalism case earlier this month but declined to issue an immediate with-prejudice ruling, instead reserving that determination for later consideration. That open question is now the battleground between the two sides.

Trump’s Public Rebuke Fuels Defense Arguments

Hearn’s lawyers contend that President Donald Trump’s vocal opposition to Pirro’s decision to drop the charges — describing her as having “choked” and labeling the move a “mistake” — deprives their client of the finality guaranteed by the Constitution’s speedy-trial and double-jeopardy clauses.

“The extraordinary public and political circumstances surrounding this prosecution demonstrate a continuing risk of harassment and renewed prosecution.”

Contractor Error, Not Vandalism, Underlies the Damage

Hearn had been charged in a felony indictment with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. After prosecutors determined that a government contractor’s failed installation — not deliberate vandalism — was the actual cause of the damage, the Justice Department moved to withdraw the charge without prejudice, retaining the theoretical option to prosecute the same alleged offense down the road.

Discovery Fight Over 695 Megabytes of Interior Records

Separately, Hearn’s legal team has petitioned the superior court to compel the Justice Department to produce evidence in discovery. Prosecutors disclosed last month, in their motion to dismiss, that they had received 695 megabytes of documents from the Department of the Interior after Hearn’s indictment. Defense counsel stated that those materials first revealed the damage was “the result of a botched installation and not vandalism,” and that the newly surfaced records “significantly undermine the evidentiary basis for the indictment.”

The defense team seeks access to that government evidence, arguing it bears directly on Judge Edelman’s pending decision about whether to grant a permanent, with-prejudice dismissal.