After receiving a letter from the family of a DC Metropolitan Police officer who committed suicide a week after the attack and who had “scuffled” with the defendant, a federal judge in Washington, DC delayed the scheduled sentencing for a January 6th Capitol attacker who had struck a plea deal with prosecutors, saying she needed more information about why the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, NBC News reports.

Federal District Court Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, was scheduled to sentence David Walls-Kaufmann, a DC chiropractor with an office in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, for a single misdemeanor count of “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building” as part of a plea deal that dropped other charges that had been filed in a common move by prosecutors.

However, the family of deceased DC Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith wrote Cobb imploring the maximum sentence possible for Walls-Kaufmann.  As outlined in the letter, Smith was one of the law enforcement officers attempting to hold the surging crowd of insurrections off.  Smith’s bodycam footage shows Walls-Kaufmann seizing Smith’s baton and striking Smith two or three times in the face and/or head with it.  Other footage shows Smith engaging with other insurrectionists, including a moment where he apparently got struck in the head by a metal object as police cleared the grounds at the end.

Smith’s wife, Nancy, noted the officer attempted to seek medical help that night, but the Police and Firefighters’ Clinics were full with officers injured in the siege.  Nancy Smith noted her husband exhibited mood swings and personality shifts after the attack, and he took his own life about one week later, on the day he was scheduled to return to work.

“The scuffle between Walls-Kaufman and my husband can be viewed on Jeffrey’s body-worn camera in addition to the record of injuries received during the altercation, which include fractures to his face and sub-orbital cavities, as well the traumatic brain injuries and concussion, all referenced by [autopsy results],” Erin Smith wrote. “When the body camera video is slowed to a frame-by-frame view, Walls-Kaufman struck Jeffrey at least twice in the face with his own baton, after gaining control of it in the Capitol. Walls-Kaufman is a trained martial artist and used his training for malicious conduct that day when he came into contact with police.”

Cobb’s request to review the circumstances surrounding a plea deal, though unusual, is part of the checks and balances in the United States justice system that allows judges to review sentences for defendants to ensure justice is served.  Judges have the authority to vacate a plea agreement in a case before them if they deem the recommended charges or sentence are either too harsh or too lenient.  The judge’s review ensures the prosecutor is not favoring or biased against the defendant.