A man holding a sign is speaking to a group of people in front of the election center in Phoenix.
Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon shaman, filed an appeal on Tuesday to void his guilty plea and 41-month prison sentence for his role in the Jan 6 Capitol riot.
The federal judge who accepted Chansley's plea and sentenced him in the District Court in Washington signed off on his move to replace his defense attorney with a new lawyer.
Scott Fairlamb, the other Capitol riot defendant who tied Chansley for the longest prison term, filed his own appeal of his guilty plea and sentence after changing lawyers.
It is very difficult to get a guilty plea and sentence reversed on appeal because judges are careful to have defendants confirm that they understand that they are waiving their rights to appeal the plea or sentence in most cases.
A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is an argument that a defense lawyer badly bungled the case is one way to win a reversal of a guilty plea.
A legal nonprofit group founded by Chansley's new attorney last week said ineffective assistance of counsel may be a ground for Chansley to appeal his conviction. The grounds for Chansley's appeal will be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The District of Columbia Circuit.
Kyle Rittenhouse, an Illinois man who was acquitted at trial of criminal charges related to the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third one during a civil unrest in Wisconsin last year, had been represented by Pierce at one point.
A sketch of Jacob Chansley.
One of the symbols of the pro-Trump insurrection was Chansley. He was wearing face paint and a fur hat with horns, and was carrying a spear when he walked into the Capitol complex.
Chansley ran into the Senate chamber and up to the dais where then-Vice President Mike Pence was presiding over proceedings, to leave a note warning that justice was coming.
The Phoenix man, who suffers from mental illness, pleaded guilty to obstructing a proceeding of Congress, one of six criminal counts he faced when he was indicted.
Watkins negotiated with prosecutors to have the other charges dropped after Chansley pleaded guilty.
The judge sentenced Chansley to the low end of the federal guidelines, which was 41 months, and 10 months less than the high end, which the prosecutors had requested.
I entered the Capitol wrong. I don't have an excuse. When Watkins acted as Chansley's lawyer, he said no excuse. The behavior is not right.
He said that he was truly, truly repentant of his actions.
Less than a week later, a notice was filed in federal court indicating that he was now representing Chansley with another lawyer.
Watkins said in a statement that he was Chansley's lawyer.
At a hearing on Monday, Chansley said he had fired Watkins and was replacing him with two other people.
Watkins told NBC News after the hearing that Mr. Chansley is an extremely smart man, very intelligent, if not savant-like.
