Trial Setback For Dan Choi

Via Washington Post, a setback for Dan Choi's at his trial for chaining himself to the White House fence.

The chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled Tuesday that a judge overseeing Dan Choi’s trial cannot take into account whether prosecutors were treating Choi’s November 2010 protest differently because its subject was “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Choi’s lawyer had previously argued that his client was being treated more harshly, and Magistrate Judge John Facciola said that appeared to be the case.But Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in an opinion Tuesday that Choi’s attorney should have raised the issue of harsher treatment before trial and he cannot now use it as a defense.

Unlike the others arrested that day, Choi alone refused a plea bargain and insisted on a trial. Choi has since been re-arrested at the same scene while protesting another issue.