Bethesda's David "Davey" Hearn, a three-time U.S. Olympic canoeist, will stand trial on Monday, September 28, on a felony charge that he vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman set the date at a hearing on Monday and told both sides he expects the trial to last a week, according to NBC Washington.

Hearn, 67, faces a single count of destruction of property exceeding $1,000 in damage. He pleaded not guilty on Thursday, July 9, and was released on his own recognizance.

What prosecutors allege

Prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office allege Hearn was seen "forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner" of the Reflecting Pool with both hands on June 19, according to NBC News. Hearn has said he stopped during a bike ride to inspect peeling sealant coating that had already detached from the pool's surface.

The pool is part of a $14 million federal rehabilitation project, according to multiple news reports, timed ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary. National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police detained Hearn for five hours after the June 19 incident.

Defense pushes on evidence preservation

Hearn's defense team filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing prosecutors failed to preserve evidence. Judge Edelman dismissed the motion without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled if ongoing government remediation work on the pool affected the area before the defense could examine it.

Edelman warned prosecutors that government work to fix the pool is done "at its own peril," NBC Washington reported.

A Walter Johnson High School alum

Hearn is a Bethesda native and Walter Johnson High School graduate who competed in three Summer Olympics: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000. He won 13 World Championship medals, including eight golds, over a 28-year competitive career in whitewater canoe slalom.

His attorney, Norm Eisen, told reporters outside court after the July 9 arraignment that the administration is using Hearn as a "scapegoat" and called the charges "outrageous."

"Davey Hearn pled not guilty—because he is not guilty,” said his attorney, Norm Eisen. “If Mr. Hearn can be charged with a felony for touching the Reflecting Pool, every American is at risk, and every American should be alarmed about this prosecution.”

"It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America," Eisen said after the July 9 hearing, according to NPR.

Three other individuals were charged with misdemeanor destruction of property (less than $1,000) in connection with separate Reflecting Pool incidents. Hearn is the only defendant facing a felony.

What's next

Hearn is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, September 11, with the trial set to begin on Monday, September 28, in D.C. Superior Court.