Man accused of threatening to kill federal judge set to face trial
A man accused of threatening to kill a federal judge in California failed to get his charges dismissed and will now face trial. (Image from Shutterstock)
A man accused of threatening to kill a federal judge in California failed to get his charges dismissed and will now face trial.
Bloomberg Law reported Monday that U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California denied defendant David Pokorny’s motion to dismiss the indictment for faulty grand jury instructions.
Tigar held that prosecutors are not required to provide perfect instructions to grand jurors and scheduled the trial to begin in November. Tigar had previously denied Pokorny’s motion to dismiss based on First Amendment grounds.
Tigar found that Pokorny, who allegedly wrote nearly a dozen emails last year detailing plans to kidnap and kill U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California, had uttered “true threats” and was not engaging in hyperbole or making a pure political statement.
Breyer is a senior judge in the Northern District of California. Breyer was appointed to his seat in 1997 by former President Bill Clinton, and he is the brother of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
According to Bloomberg Law, Pokorny faces separate charges in state court for allegedly sending threatening emails to Oakland, California, Mayor Barbara Lee.
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