Pirro Assails Judge’s Release of 41-Year-Old WWII Memorial Vandal Suspect
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 18
Pirro Assails Judge’s Release of 41-Year-Old WWII Memorial Vandal Suspect
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 18
Summary
Jeanine Pirro said the judge wrongly freed Melissa L. Farris, arguing the 41-year-old had no local ties and showed clear signs of flight risk after the alleged vandalism.
Court filings say investigators found searches for bus and airline tickets on Farris’s phone, while receipts and her own statements tied her to dish soap and three spray-paint cans bought before the attack.
Matthew J. Sharbaugh ordered Farris to avoid the memorial and report to pretrial officials in Ohio by Thursday, while prosecutors asked him to reconsider electronic monitoring and opposed returning her phone.
At a Tuesday hearing, Farris’s lawyer sought the phone’s return and said she spent the night in an emergency room after release because her inhaler and other belongings had not been returned.
Farris faces two federal felonies carrying up to 10 years after livestreaming last week’s graffiti and soap-flooding at the Washington memorial; a preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 3.