Missouri Jan. 6 defendant accused of assaulting police can leave home for work, church, judge says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri Capitol riot defendant charged with assaulting police and placed on home lockdown pending trial will now be allowed to go to work and attend church, a federal judge has ruled.

Jared Luther Owens, of Farmington in St. Francois County — who prosecutors say “repeatedly assaulted officers” — said he needed to be able to leave his house in order to return to work and go to church on Sundays.

On Friday, Judge Randolph D. Moss, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted his request. The judge said Owens would be allowed to leave his home between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday “solely for the purposes of working” and from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Sundays to go to church.

Both exceptions, Moss said, are subject to pre-approval by Pretrial Services and “subject to any conditions that Pretrial Services deems are necessary to assure compliance.”

Owens was arrested in October along with Jason William Wallis, of St. Clair in Franklin County, on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The men were charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and assault on law enforcement with a deadly or dangerous weapon, both felonies.

Owens and Wallis also face six misdemeanor offenses, including entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.

After Owens was arrested in the Eastern District of Missouri on the federal charges, Magistrate Judge Joseph S. Dueker ordered that he be detained. Owens asked for a review of that order, and on Jan. 11, Moss granted Owens’ pretrial release but placed restrictions on him, including 24-hour-a-day lockdown at his home and GPS monitoring. Wallis, who also had been detained after his arrest, was released on Feb. 16 and restricted to round-the-clock lockdown at his residence along with GPS monitoring.

In March, Owens filed a motion asking the court to modify his conditions of release. Owens’ motion said he “has been compliant with all pre-trial release conditions to date” and “calls in every night and submits urine samples on request.” He also “calls in every Monday to Pre-Trial Services,” it said, “and the officer has been to his home twice.”

“Defendant is requesting to be able to work at his previous construction job in St. Louis, PCX Construction,” the motion said. “Defendant is also requesting to be able to attend church weekly, on Sundays. Defendant has been compliant with court orders to date and is not a danger to the community.”

The government strongly objected to Owens’ request.

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