Some Jan. 6 defendants turn to trial by judge instead of jury

Many of the U.S. Capitol riot defendants who traveled across the country to get to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021 are now angling to get their cases away from jurors in Washington, D.C.

A review of tens of thousands of pages of court filing by CBS News shows more than a dozen Jan. 6 defendants have unsuccessfully tried to move their trials out of the nation's capital, arguing the jury pool in Washington is potentially tainted by bias, stemming either from its residents' liberal political leanings or the impact of the riots on the District. These defendants have asked for a change of venue but have so far failed to convince D.C. judges that a transfer is necessary.  

But there is another route for these defendants — they may ask for a bench trial, in which defendants argue their cases before a judge, rather than a jury. In two cases so far, Capitol breach defendants chose bench trials, putting their fate into the hands of one judge, instead of 12 strangers.