DOJ to retry woman who laughed during Sessions' confirmation hearing

By Laura Jarrett and Daniella Diaz, CNN

Washington (CNN)The Department of Justice will retry a woman whom prosecutors say disrupted Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing for attorney general by laughing.

After rejecting a plea deal, Desiree Fairooz will again face charges of unlawful conduct for disrupting Sessions' hearing in January.

According to court records, Fairooz rejected a deal offered by prosecutors that would have required her to plead guilty in exchange for a recommended sentence of time served.

Jeff Sessions hearing: Activist's giggle leads to conviction

Fairooz was detained after audibly laughing after Sen. Richard Shelby told senators at Sessions' confirmation hearing that the then-Alabama senator had a record of "treating all Americans equally under the law."

Her laughter lasted seconds and Shelby continued with his speech without acknowledging the disturbance.

In a statement, Fairooz said she let out a spontaneous "reflexive noise" because Shelby's description was not true.

"It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance," she said.

Fairooz was previously convicted of a misdemeanor connected to disrupting the hearing, but a judge threw out the guilty verdict in July and ordered a new trial.

The new trial is scheduled to begin on November 13.

CNN's Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/01/politics/doj-woman-laughed-jeff-sessions-confirmation-hearing/index.html