Jan. 6 Defendant Jacob Chansley Files Motion to Vacate His Sentence Over Newly Revealed Footage

Jacob Chansley, also known as the "QAnon Shaman," inside the U.S. Senate chamber after the U.S. Capitol was breached on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The man known as QAnon Shaman has asked a judge to vacate the sentence he received over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, pointing to surveillance footage made public for the first time on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

Jacob Chansley, through lawyer William Shipley, filed a motion on April 27 to vacate his sentence, noting the footage showed him being escorted by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers throughout the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. It also showed one officer opening a door to the Senate Chamber and following Chansley inside when he entered.

The government violated Chansley’s rights by not handing over the potentially exculpatory footage, the new filing states.

“Because this material was favorable to Mr. Chansley for purposes of sentencing, and it was suppressed by the Government, Mr. Chansley’s due process rights were clearly violated by the failure to produce the CCTV camera video from inside the Capitol,” Shipley wrote.

The motion asks to vacate Chansley’s sentence and permit additional discovery to figure out why the footage was not produced.

Conflicting Dates

Albert Watkins, Chansley’s former lawyer, has said he has never seen the videos aired by Carlson and that they were not produced by the government during discovery.

Prosecutors challenged the latter claim. In a filing in a different case, they said the videos had been given to Watkins by Sept. 24, 2021.

Prosecutors offered a different story, though, in correspondence with Shipley. They said they produced the videos on Oct. 21, 2021.

“Both representations cannot be correct—and it is quite likely that both are false,” Shipley said. He pointed to prior letters from prosecutors, including one sent Oct. 21, 2021, that said footage from Capitol grounds had been produced but with no specific mention of any video from the interior of the Capitol.

In another letter dated Oct. 25, 2021, authorities said they expected future productions to primarily be from the interior of the Capitol, including footage that had been deemed “highly sensitive.”

“Mr. Chansley and his counsel did not have the CCTV video from cameras inside the Capitol for use at before his change of plea or at sentencing,“ Shipley said. ”But the Government did.”

Motion to Vacate

Chansley pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding. in 2021. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison. He was released on March 28.

Under federal law, a motion to vacate may be approved if a sentence was imposed “in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States” or the sentence given was “in excess of the maximum authorized by law.”

Because prosecutors failed to meet their Brady obligations, or their need to produce potentially exculpatory material, Chansley’s sentence should be vacated or corrected, Shipley said.

“The discovery/Brady material was not provided in a manner that meets the standard in this Circuit for disclosure of exculpatory material,” he wrote. To figure out exactly what happened, further discovery should be permitted, the lawyer said.

Shipley had indicated after the footage was made public that he was going to file a motion to vacate. He told The Epoch Times that suppression covers the government not producing key footage, even if the video was part of one of the tranches made available to the defense.

“Suppression … is not the nefarious burying of evidence,” Shipley said. “It just means it wasn’t brought to light by the government. The government knew what was there and did not illuminate the fact that it was there.”

Ineffective Counsel

Chansley pleaded guilty to the most serious charge that had been filed against him. He also entered a guilty plea before all evidence in his case, as acknowledged by the government, had been produced. And he was sentenced without all the footage being produced.

Those facts are among those showing Watkins did not represent Chansley effectively, according to the new filing.

“Attorney Watkins was ineffective by not obtaining the CCTV camera video after he was aware such video was available based on the fact that the Government gave notice of its intent to use CCTV camera video at sentencing,” Shipley wrote. “By not securing the video and determining whether it supported Mr. Chansley’s description of events, Attorney Watkins allowed the Government to take liberties in describing Mr. Chansley’s conduct while inside the Capitol, without fear of the unproduced videos contradicting the Government’s claims.”

Prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum did not mention Chansley being escorted by officers or let into the chamber by one.

Chansley told FBI agents shortly after Jan. 6 that he had been escorted by police to the Senate Chamber. He said officers asked him to use the megaphone he had to request protesters depart the chamber. Watkins should have been seeking footage to corroborate his client’s account, the new filing states.

“I want nothing but the very best for Mr. Chansley,” Watkins told The Epoch Times in an email. “He deserved better from the Government on many levels.”