The sentencing of Richard "Bigo" Barnett in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot has been postponed from May 3 to May 24.
U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper filed an order Friday morning granting a motion from the defense to postpone Barnett's sentencing hearing. Federal prosecutors opposed the request.
After a two-week trial in January, a jury in Washington, D.C., found Barnett guilty of eight charges in connection with the riot that occurred two years earlier, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Barnett faced enhanced charges for carrying a stun gun into the Capitol, where he posed for photos with his foot on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office suite.
Barnett faces a maximum penalty of 47 years in prison.
Jonathan Gross, one of Barnett's attorneys, filed a motion Monday night saying a 107-page decision issued last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia "raises new issues that directly and specifically impact Mr. Barnett's case."
Gross requested more time to "properly review and analyze the complicated decision" in United States v. Fischer and decide whether he needs to file supplements to Barnett's motions for acquittal or a new trial.
In a filing Wednesday, federal prosecutors said, "No such continuance is justified."
They argued that the appeals court decision in Fischer concerns defendants who "assaulted" police officers during the Capitol riot, and Barnett wasn't accused of assault.
Regarding the Fischer decision, the prosecutors wrote, "The Circuit court confirmed that the government may charge individuals who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers while participating in the Capitol riot with corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, specifically Congress's certification of the Electoral College vote, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2).
"The defendant -- who was not alleged to have assaulted law enforcement officers but who was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) on a different theory -- asserts that the Fischer decision 'raises new issues that directly and specifically impact' his case but does not identify the issues or explain the impact."
The Fischer decision doesn't affect Barnett's sentencing guidelines calculation or other sentencing factors, according to the prosecutors.
Sentencing memoranda in the case are now due May 17.