United States v. Hearn

Case Overview

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David 'Davey' Hearn was indicted on July 2, 2026 on a single felony count of destruction of property in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, over a June 19, 2026 incident in which he is alleged to have pulled up and torn a roughly two-square-foot section of the newly installed sealant liner at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He was arraigned on July 9, 2026 and pleaded not guilty; Judge Carmen McLean released him on his own recognizance and set a status hearing for August 5, 2026. A trial date of September 28, 2026 was later set before Judge Todd Edelman. The charge carries up to 10 years. His defense (Steven Levin, Mary Dohrmann, with Norm Eisen also appearing) has called the prosecution an effort to shift blame for the pool's maintenance problems. This is a D.C. Superior Court (local) case, not a federal matter.

On July 31, 2026, the government moved to dismiss the indictment without prejudice. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office told the court it learned only after the grand jury indictment that the pool damage resulted from a rushed and flawed installation by the contractor, and that the Department of the Interior had provided only barebones reports without disclosing records documenting the installation problems. Had the Interior Department disclosed that information, the filing said, the government would not have sought the indictment. President Trump publicly disputed his own Justice Department's conclusion and criticized Pirro, insisting the pool had been vandalized. Because the dismissal is sought without prejudice, the charge could be brought again.

By order of July 29, 2026, Judge Todd E. Edelman consolidated all four Reflecting Pool cases (Hearn, No. 2026 CF2 010237, and the three misdemeanors, Nos. 2026 CMD 010450, 010451, and 010494) for management of pretrial discovery. As of the August 4, 2026 docket, the government's July 31 Motion to Dismiss the Indictment remained pending; the jury trial (Sept. 28) and trial-readiness hearing (Sept. 11) were vacated and a Status Hearing was set for September 11, 2026 at 2:15 p.m. in Courtroom 233. The defense team includes Norman L. Eisen, Steven H. Levin, Mary Lyle Dohrmann, and Michael R. Bromwich.