U.S. Olympic canoeist David 'Davey' Hearn charged in Reflecting Pool vandalism

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11. They haven't succeeded in several other cases.

And he's got a very good lawyer.

The statute he's being charged under reads as follows: Whoever maliciously injures or breaks or destroys, or attempts to injure or break or destroy, by fire or otherwise, any public or private property, whether real or personal, not his or her own, of the value of $1,000 or more, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both, and if the property has some value shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 180 days, or both."

Typically, convicting someone of the crime of malicious destruction of property requires proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant acted with willful intent, not by accident or mistake, with ill will, spite, or a willful disregard of a known risk that the property would be harmed and without excuse or mitigating circumstances.

Pirro is going to have a tough time convincing a jury that someone who saw a floating piece of debris on the reflecting pool and picked it up acted with willful, malicious intent or that the value of the piece of floating debris was $1000 or more. My guess is that they were able to obtain the indictment by claiming that the value of the damage should measured against the value of the entire reflecting pool.