A federal judge has dismissed the felony vandalism case against former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn, but whether prosecutors can ever refile the charge remains an open fight in court.
Associate Judge Todd Edelman of DC Superior Court granted the Department of Justice's request to drop the criminal case against Hearn on Thursday, ending, at least for now, a prosecution that collapsed after the government's own evidence showed the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool came from a botched contractor installation, not sabotage. The judge has not yet decided whether to bar prosecutors from bringing the charge back, a question he will take up after both sides submit additional filings and appear for oral argument.
The dismissal caps a sequence of events that should trouble anyone who expects the federal government to get its facts straight before hauling a citizen in front of a grand jury. Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist, was indicted last month on a felony destruction of property charge. Prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office accused him of "forcefully and violently" ripping up parts of the pool floor. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on July 9. Weeks later, the government reversed course and asked the court to throw the case out.
The reason for the about-face is damning for the Department of the Interior. Fox News reported that DOI failed to disclose records showing the pool's coating damage resulted from flawed work by Virginia-based contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings, not from Hearn or anyone else. Prosecutors stated that had the Interior Department been forthcoming with the information "clearly in its possession," the government would never have sought a grand jury indictment.
The DOJ's own motion acknowledged that the damage "was the result of flawed installation by the contractor." Pirro's office said it only learned of evidence pointing to "a rushed and flawed installation process" after the grand jury had already returned the indictment. ABC News reported that the judge granted the dismissal in part but reserved judgment on the critical question of whether Hearn can ever be charged again.
The New York Post reported that the Interior Department initially told prosecutors "nearly all of the damage" to the Reflecting Pool was caused by vandalism. Only after charges were filed did DOI hand over 695 megabytes of additional documents revealing that Atlantic Industrial Coatings had botched a $14 million installation job. The pool's lining began peeling almost immediately after the contractor finished the work, and the rush to complete the project before America 250 Independence Day celebrations contributed to the failure.
A National Park Service engineer flagged peeling concerns on June 11, eight days before Hearn's arrest, warning the contractor about vulnerable perimeter strips. That warning sat inside the Interior Department while prosecutors built a felony case on the theory that a man had torn the lining apart with his hands.
Just The News reported that Hearn was one of seven people charged in connection with the alleged sabotage of the Reflecting Pool renovation, and he faced the only felony charge among the group. Pirro herself acknowledged the weakness of the government's position once the contractor evidence surfaced.
"Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt."
That was Pirro's own assessment. A visual inspection, the Washington Examiner noted, revealed damage throughout the pool, including in the middle, where a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining. The pattern pointed to a systemic installation failure, not targeted destruction.
Hearn's attorneys, Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann, and Steve Levin, filed a motion this week seeking dismissal with prejudice, which would permanently bar the government from refiling charges. Their filing did not hold back:
"Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge."
The defense argued that "the Court should not leave the defendant subject to the possibility of renewed prosecution," citing what they called "exceptional facts and circumstances." In a separate statement, Hearn's lawyers were even more direct:
"The Trump administration's case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought. Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government's approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology."
Pirro's office, for its part, sought dismissal without prejudice, leaving the door open, at least technically, to refile. Judge Edelman's order split the difference: he granted the dismissal but set a schedule for both sides to argue the with-prejudice question before he rules. A hearing for oral argument will follow once all submissions are in.
President Trump this week publicly criticized Pirro's move to dismiss the charges, saying she "choked" and "folded like an umbrella." Trump continued to push allegations that vandals were responsible for cutting and tearing the pool lining. Hearn's attorneys, according to Breitbart, cited Trump's public statements as evidence of political motivation in the case, arguing that the prosecution was "from day one" driven by political concerns rather than adequate factual support.
The tension between the president's public posture and the DOJ's own admission that the evidence did not support the charge puts Pirro in an awkward position. Her office admitted the Interior Department misled prosecutors. Her boss says she should have pressed ahead anyway. And the man her office indicted, a former Olympian who represented his country on the water, spent weeks under felony charges for damage the government now concedes was caused by a contractor who cut corners on a rushed job.
If the trial date of September 28 holds and Judge Edelman declines to dismiss with prejudice, the case could theoretically be refiled. But the government's own filings have already conceded the factual foundation the prosecution was built on.
The open question now is whether Judge Edelman will shut the door permanently. Hearn's lawyers want it locked. The DOJ, despite admitting it never should have sought the indictment, wants to keep the key.
When the government charges a citizen with a felony, gets the facts wrong because another agency withheld the truth, and then asks the court to quietly walk away without guaranteeing it won't come back, that is not accountability. That is a government asking for a do-over it has not earned.
