The Justice Department has moved to dismiss the criminal case against Olympian David Hearn, who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The dismissal comes after the department acknowledged that damage to the pool was likely the result of flawed installation work by a contractor.

Hearn had previously pleaded not guilty to a felony destruction of property charge. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, had accused him of forcefully ripping up parts of the pool floor. However, new evidence has shifted the focus of responsibility.

In a court filing Friday, Pirro's office stated they only became aware of evidence pointing to a rushed and flawed installation process after Hearn had been indicted. The filing revealed that the U.S. Attorney herself visited the drained Reflecting Pool on July 17 and observed significant damage, prompting the Justice Department to request all related documents from the U.S. Interior Department.

These documents indicated that Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the contractor responsible for the pool's lining, experienced repeated failures during the installation. The materials also showed extensive peeling of the lining and evidence of a rush to complete the renovation before the America 250 celebration on July 4.

The court filing stated that this newly produced information "significantly undermine[s] the evidentiary basis for the indictment." The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is therefore seeking to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning the case could potentially be reopened.

An email from a National Park Service engineer, sent on June 11, was included in the filing. It expressed concern that overspray of the new pool coating along the perimeter could lead to a vulnerable strip prone to peeling. This area along the perimeter is where Hearn was alleged to have pulled up material.

At a press conference on July 2 announcing Hearn's indictment, Pirro had asserted that evidence showed Hearn "willfully destroyed property" and was observed "forcefully and violently removing liner material from the bottom of the pool."

The filing concluded that, given the new information about the widespread damage appearing to stem from installation issues, it is "difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to Hearn's alleged actions."