A defense attorney who has represented defendants in the January 6 Capitol riot is offering her services pro bono to conservatives and has already helped clear a Virginia dad accused of slander for saying a Left-wing activist was “grooming” children.
Marina Medvin, who started RightDefense.org earlier this year with help from the nonprofit Coolidge Reagan Foundation (CRF), is offering the free services in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. The project was inspired by what she said was widespread skepticism that conservatives could find lawyers they could rely on.
“As I am sure everyone noticed in the January 6 Capitol arrests, conservatives were scrambling to find lawyers they could trust to represent their interests in criminal court,” Medvin told The Daily Wire. “Our goal is to prevent this scramble in the future.”
The project is being launched as the trials of multiple January 6 defendants get underway. One defendant, Matthew Martin, was acquitted of all charges last Wednesday after a federal judge ruled that Martin plausibly believed that Capitol Police waved him into the building. That ruling sent shockwaves through the Washington legal community, as dozens more defendants accused of trespassing could likely make the same case. Alan Dershowitz told The Daily Wire that the “enormously important” decision, by U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, could set a legal precedent for a case in which he is representing January 6 defendant Brady Knowlton.
RightDefense.org, which has not made its foray into January 6 cases yet, won a case last week against Virginia dad and former PTA President Harry Jackson, who faced criminal charges for accusing a Left-wing activist of “grooming,” The Daily Wire reported. All four charges were dismissed with prejudice — meaning they cannot be brought back.
“The father who was victimized by the criminalization of free speech is now free to speak his mind,” said Medvin.
Medvin said donations will help CRF’s initiative defend people like Jackson, January 6 defendants, and also fight for legal reforms.
“We can use the foundation to do more than just represent conservatives in criminal court — we can go further and advocate for changes in the law,” she said.
Dan Backer, founder and president of CRF, said the need for conservative legal representation became clear when Virginia parents and children were targeted by the legal system for not wearing masks after Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) removed the statewide mandate.
He said that CRF’s “mandate is to defend conservatives who are being criminally prosecuted for living and speaking their conservative values.”
The defense of Jackson and conservative families caught in the masking dispute come cheap compared to defending alleged Capitol rioters. Backer said just one such case could cost a defendant as much as $250,000.
“Financial support at that level – or anything close to it – is wildly beyond the amount CRF has raised to date,” he said. “Maybe one day we’ll have those kinds of resources, but we’re still a modest effort to do whatever we can, when we can, to offset the pain being inflicted by leftists persecution.”
January 6 defendant John Lammons, who was arrested in March and charged with four misdemeanors, told The Daily Wire RightDefense.org offers an alternative to beleaguered public defenders.
“It’s definitely valuable,” he said in an interview, clarifying that he has already hired legal counsel. “It’s just all in if you trust your court-appointed lawyer.”
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