Judge issues first outright acquittal of Jan. 6 riot defendant

A judge has issued the first outright acquittal of a defendant charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Following a two-day bench trial, New Mexico engineer Matthew Martin was acquitted Wednesday on four misdemeanor charges by Judge Trevor McFadden. Martin claimed that he thought police allowed him into an entrance near the Capitol Rotunda.

McFadden said that, based on video of the scene, that assertion was at least plausible and prosecutors failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.