Judge blocks federal prosecutors from refiling charges in Reflecting Pool case

A worker cleans the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)WASHINGTON — A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors cannot, for a second time, charge former Olympic canoeist David Hearn with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Judge Todd E. Edelman wrote in his ruling that “the observed damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to a contractor’s ‘rushed and botched’ installation of the lining while conducting renovations, and Mr. Hearn’s actions had no effect on the value of the Pool.”

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro sought to drop the charges against Hearn, of Maryland, in August, writing in a brief to the court that she wouldn’t have filed a case against him had she had more information from the Interior Department, which manages the Reflecting Pool. 

“Specifically, the newly released documents reveal that work on installing the lining almost immediately fell behind, due to a combination of very rainy and windy weather, repeated failures of testing on the sealing of the expansion joints, and delays in obtaining sealing product at the worksite,” Pirro wrote. “The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed.”

But Edelman had to hold a hearing on the future of the case in early September after federal prosecutors signaled they may try to refile the charges. 

The judge’s 26-page ruling blocks that from happening. 

“The Court respects the authority of the Office of the United States Attorney to decide which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss,” Edelman wrote. “However, in the exceptional circumstances posed by this case, the government has no right to retain the ability to compound the errors it has already made, or even to threaten to do so, at Mr. Hearn’s expense.”