U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s felony case against a three-time Olympian faces dismissal after her own prosecutor showed defense attorneys to the alleged crime scene, where the evidence no longer exists.
David Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympian, was indicted July 2 on a single felony count of destruction of property — accused of pulling up two square feet of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s newly installed liner on June 19. He pleaded not guilty.
On July 16, defense attorneys gained access to the drained pool with government assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reddington accompanied them and showed them the precise spot where Hearn allegedly touched the liner.
A sworn declaration attached to a motion to dismiss filed the same day confirms what they found. The filing was first obtained by journalist Marcy Wheeler.
“This entire section of the pool liner is missing,” the declaration states.
“National Park employees observed Hearn actually forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” Pirro said at her July 2 press conference announcing the indictment.