Attorney Says Jan. 6 Prisoner ‘Will Die’ in Jail, Files Motion for Immediate Pretrial Release

Jan. 6 detainee Christopher Quaglin told his attorney, Joseph McBride, during a meeting that his health was "poor at best" due to untreated celiac disease in a video of the meeting posted to McBride's Instagram account in March 2022. Instagram/@mcbridelawnyc/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The attorney for a Jan. 6 prisoner is so concerned over the condition of his client’s rapidly failing health that he filed a motion for immediate release and an emergency request for a hearing.

Jan. 6 prisoner Christopher Quaglin has been incarcerated for 19 months.

The first motion (pdf), filed Aug. 21, explained that the defendant’s emergency request for pretrial release was based primarily on the belief that “he is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.” On Aug. 22, Quaglin’s attorney filed another motion, reiterating the request for his release “on the basis of, inter alia, an imminent threat of severe bodily harm to the Defendant due to deliberate indifference to his serious medical condition compounded with the conditions of confinement at the Northern Neck Regional Jail.”

On Sept. 29, Judge Trevor McFadden denied the request (pdf). According to the second brief (pdf), filed on Dec. 15, the government’s only argument is that the motion should be denied because Quaglin has an ongoing habeas corpus petition.

According to the April 26 petition for writ of habeas corpus (pdf), Quaglin had petitioned the court because he has been incarcerated “as a federal pretrial detainee and not as an inmate ... in violation of his constitutional and human rights.”

The Violations

First noted in the petition is Quaglin’s “serious underlying medical condition,” celiac disease, which has “been treated with deliberate indifference,” and “caused him to suffer irreparable harm.” It is further noted that Quaglin has been moved to six different jails since April 2021, and that “the malicious indifference to his medical condition intensifies after each move.” The petition further alleges that Quaglin has been repeatedly subjected to prolonged stays in solitary confinement “for punitive reasons,” and has been “forced to live, sleep, and eat in disgusting unsanitary living conditions where there is black mold, rats, and roaches.”

It is further noted that “insect and rat droppings are routinely found on his food trays, and that he has been forced to drink brown and/or black looking water.”

The document also asserts that Quaglin has been housed in notoriously hostile parts of the jail with violent gang and cartel members, intentionally exposing him to danger.

In one attack, Quaglin “received eight stitches next to his right eye.” Photos taken by lead attorney Joseph McBride during a video consultation show Quaglin with a black eye. It is further alleged that Quaglin “is routinely denied access to necessities such as toiletries, medicine, food, and exposure to natural light.” The writ further contends that Quaglin “has never seen the discovery in his case despite being detained for over one year,” that “his attorney-client privileged calls are repeatedly spied on and monitored,” that “reasonable access to his attorneys has been routinely and maliciously interrupted,” and that each time Quaglin complains about having his legal rights violated, “additional punitive measures are taken to intimidate, silence, and harm him.”

A collection of inmate request and grievance forms (pdf), filed by Quaglin and obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, document a history of neglect, starvation, stolen property, denial of mail and family and attorney visitations, and physical abuse at the hands of Northern Neck Regional Jail Superintendent Ted Hull, gang members, and other facility officials.

The Disease

“Chris has celiac disease,” attorney Jonathan Gross told The Epoch Times. “He was diagnosed as a child. It affects his stomach, his skin, and his state of mind.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. For those with celiac disease, consuming gluten sets off an immune response in the small intestine, which damages the lining of the small intestine and shuts down its ability to absorb some nutrients. Side effects of this damage are diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating, anemia, and other potentially serious complications. There’s no cure for celiac disease.

“It’s a severe allergy that could kill him,” Gross said, explaining that during a pretrial hearing, “even Judge McFadden could tell from all the way from up on the bench how much weight Chris had lost and how emaciated and sick he was.”

“Essentially, McFadden said it was his own fault, that Chris had a bad attitude and he wasn’t eating the trays he was being fed,” Gross recalled. “But if he eats the trays he gets sick, violently sick. So McFadden sent him back to prison where he lost another 10 pounds. It’s getting worse.”

As Gross explained, Quaglin is currently surviving on a diet of Ensure, which is a nutritional supplement shake and not meant to be a substitute for food. Because of the low-calorie count, those consuming nothing but Ensure will continue to lose weight.

In an effort to mitigate his weight loss, Quaglin buys gluten-free protein bars at the jail’s commissary. However, they are extremely expensive, and the jail limits the amount of money he can spend each week. They refuse to let him spend more money so he can purchase more protein bars.

“They claim he’s on a hunger strike,” Gross charged. “He’s not on a hunger strike. He just won’t eat the trays of food they provide because when he does, he gets sick. They either give him food that’s straight up full of gluten—and that’s documented—or the food is cross-contaminated.”

Quaglin has a family history of Celiac.

“My aunt almost died from it,” Quaglin told The Epoch Times by phone from jail. “My other aunts and uncles have it. My mother has it. I get extremely sick. This is not a fad. This is a medically required diet. My white blood cells attack my body and eat my stomach and small intestines. I bleed internally. It gives me a whole host of problems if I don’t follow this diet.”

The Constitution

Under the U.S. Constitution, a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. “Pretrial detention” refers to the time period during which someone is incarcerated after being arrested but before they go to trial. As pretrial detainees have not been convicted of a crime, they are not considered guilty. Therefore, according to the law (pdf), a pretrial detainee is not allowed to be punished.

“It’s a different standard for the way they are allowed to hold him,” Gross said, adding that “it’s a thin line, but a very bright, thin line.”

However, Gross asserted that Hull, the jail superintendent, not only “refuses to acknowledge the law,” but that he made it clear through emails that “he doesn’t care about the law.”

The Superintendent

Gross said he was stunned by the callousness of Hull’s emails, saying it “shocks the conscience that somebody who is in charge of people’s lives would write like this. It’s a sick situation there.”

According to an email exchange (pdf) between Gross and Hull, obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times, Gross reached out to Hull on Oct. 3, as instructed by the judge, hoping to “resolve the crisis” regarding Quaglin’s health and his missing discovery.

“I have no idea who you are and quite frankly my attorney represents the results of that hearing differently,” Hull replied the next day, adding “this is a manufactured issue. To that end I consider the matter closed and will not address this again.”

As the exchange became more heated, Gross tried “one final time” to find a resolution for his client’s needs.

“The court expressed concern multiple times for Mr. Quaglin’s health,” he informed Hull in an Oct. 4 email. “The fact is, he has lost a dangerous amount of weight. We assume, as the Court did, that the parties can put aside their differences and discuss the issue in hopes of solving the problems.”

Gross then requested that if Hull was not willing to work with him in a “more professional manner,” that he provide the contact information of someone who would be willing to help him resolve the issue. If he was not willing to do either, Gross requested that he “simply respond ‘NO.’”

“NO” was Hull’s one-word reply.

Additionally, Gross said McFadden “didn’t take any issue” with Quaglin’s mistreatment.

“There was no penalty for that,” Gross said, adding that, “according to McFadden and the jail, there is no difference between a convicted felon and a pretrial detainee who is innocent until proven guilty. They have no distinction.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Hull for comment.

‘Innocent Until Proven Guilty’

Despite the events of Jan. 6 and the opinions of people related to that day, this story is about the law.

“No one is going to say that everyone’s behavior was acceptable on Jan. 6. It was a very chaotic day,” Gross conceded. “But this story is not about Jan. 6. It’s about Christopher Quaglin—who has been incarcerated as a pretrial detainee, not as a convicted prisoner—and about Hull, who is transparently hostile toward Mr. Quaglin’s political beliefs. He is using his position to torture Chris for those beliefs. That is the story. Whatever Chris did he is still an American citizen in pretrial, so he is innocent until proven guilty. That’s the law. Despite that, they have already sentenced him to 20 months of torture.”

“Chris is not doing well. He’s in bad shape,” Gross said. “He’s got to get out or he could die. He’s 10 pounds away from death, I would say.”

In another call from jail, Quaglin said “mentally, everyone has good days and bad days.”

“It’s hard. I won’t lie,” Quaglin confessed. “I’ve never been broken before. But this has pushed me to my limits.”