(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In their zeal to lock up 69-year-old Jan. 6 protestor Thomas Caldwell, Justice Department prosecutors omitted some of his medical records to make it look like Caldwell lied about the treatment he received in jail, according to his defense attorney.
Caldwell’s defense attorney, David Fischer, made this accusation Friday in a sentencing memorandum, opposing the DOJ’s bid to incarcerate his client for 14 years—what would likely be a death sentence for the disabled Navy veteran.
A judge stayed Caldwell’s sentencing this week—keeping him out of prison, for now—pending the Supreme Court’s review of a case challenging the obstruction law used to prosecute Caldwell and hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants. But Caldwell’s lawyer still wants the DOJ to correct its lies about his client.
“The government’s sentencing Exhibit-9 purports to be a complete copy of Caldwell’s medical records from [Central Virginia Regional Jail]. These medical records, according to the government, ‘cast doubt upon [Caldwell’s] current claims’ regarding his physical disabilities,” defense attorney Fischer said in his Friday memorandum.
Fischer said he obtained a full copy of Caldwell’s CVRJ medical records in 2021, directly from CVRJ. The full copy shows that the DOJ omitted a page from the records it submitted to the court, according to Fischer.
“Interestingly, the undersigned’s copy and the government’s copy of the CVRJ records are identical with one notable exception: the government’s copy, i.e., Government Exhibit-9, is missing one page—a page that sets forth in detail which medications Caldwell received (and the dates they were administered) while at CVRJ,” the defense attorney said.
“This missing page proves that Caldwell was not provided with six of his seven prescribed medications while at CVRJ,” he added. “Respectfully, the government should retract its claim that Caldwell misled the public vis-à-vis not receiving his prescribed medications.”
According to Caldwell’s attorney, his client was prescribed Oxymorphone (Opana), Lansoprazole, Hydrocortisone, Clonidine, Lunesta, Vyvanse, and Relpax.
When he was incarcerated, however, the visiting physician at CVRJ, incorrectly assumed that Caldwell was an opiate addict, and ordered that Opana—the medication most necessary to block Caldwell’s back and neck pain—be withheld, his lawyer said. Additionally, Caldwell was allegedly not provided with Lunesta, a sleep aid that allows him to sleep through his pain.
Relpax, a medication designed to combat Caldwell’s chronic, severe migraine headaches, was likewise withheld, according to Fischer. And instead of prescription strength Lansoprazole, CVRJ allegedly provided Caldwell with a less potent, over-the-counter substitute (Omeprazole), which was ineffective.
“In fact, the only prescribed medication consistently provided to Caldwell was hydrocortisone, an anti-inflammatory drug, which does little to relieve Caldwell’s chronic pain,” the defense attorney said.
The DOJ has not responded to the filing from Caldwell, who spent 53 days in jail—49 of which were in solitary confinement—before being released to house arrest. Caldwell was a defendant in the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial, but he was acquitted of the sedition charge and two other conspiracy charges.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
