![BREAKING: J6 case goes to Supreme Court after defendants say 'obstruction' charge was incorrectly applied](https://mr.cdn.ignitecdn.com/client_assets/thepostmillennial_com/media/picture/638e/35e9/510c/e36e/1d5b/1f22/original_supreme_court.jpeg?1670264297)
Over 300 people have been charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, including Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said that it will hear arguments in an appeal case regarding three defendants accused of obstruction of an official proceeding in relation to January 6, 2021, a case in which a Supreme Court ruling could overturn charges for hundreds of people, including 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
The nine-justice high court will review an appellate ruling made in April that revived the charges against three defendants, according to the Associated Press. The charge is one of four brought forth against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith in the 2020 election case. Trump was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
The court will hear arguments in March or April, with a decision being expected by early summer.
More than 300 defendants have faced the charge, which carries up to 20 years behind bars. At least 152 people have been convicted of the charge or pleaded guilty to it, and at least 108 have been sentenced.
A lower court judge had dismissed the charge against former Boston police officer Joseph Fischer and two other defendants, ruling that the charge didn’t cover their conduct on that day. The appeal to the Supreme Court was filed by lawyers for Fischer, who is facing a seven-count indictment.
US District Judge Carl Nichols ruled that a defendant must have taken "some action with respect to a document, record or other object" to obstruct an official proceeding, and found that prosecutors had stretched the law beyond its scope, inappropriately applying it in these cases.
The other defendants are Edward Jacob Lang and Garret Miller, the latter of which has since pleaded guilty to other charges and was sentenced to 38 months in prison. Miller could still face prosecution on the obstruction charge.
An appeals court in Washington ruled in April that Nichols’ interpretation of the law was too limited, agreeing with the Justice Department, who challenged the lower court’s ruling.
This comes as the Supreme Court is weighing a separate appeal in the case, brought forth by special counsel Jack Smith, on whether Trump has presidential immunity in the case.
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