12-Year-Old Murder Case May Depend on Childhood Memories

By D.C. Witness Staff - May 18, 2023
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Whether a boy who was five-years-old at the time of an alleged murder can recall the event 12-years later was debated in a hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein on May 18.  

Issac Moye, 45, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the disappearance and presumed death of 24-year-old Unique Harris. Harris was last seen on Oct. 10, 2010, near the 2000 block of Hartford Street, SE. Her body was never recovered.

The argument before the court is whether the witness is not only competent to testify, but also credible given the long interval between 2010, when court documents say the crime took place and the present day.  

The prosecutor said the issue isn’t strictly a test of memory but whether the witness understands the consequences of his testimony and is telling the truth. 

Judge Epstein noted that the prosecution previously suggested he do preliminary questioning before the witness testifies to the jury.

“I have no idea what [the prosecution] has in mind,” Judge Epstein continued. 

The prosecutor said the effort wouldn’t be “a fishing expedition” and she had no objection to the judge performing the task.  

Meanwhile, Moye’s attorney, Candace Mitchell, questioned the witnesses’ mental capacity at the time of the crime as well as his competence to testify.  “He didn’t recall anything,” she said.  Later he continued there was a person in her house just before Harris went missing,  

Judge Epstein disputed the idea that the witness didn’t recall anything of the incident and asked both parties to submit questions about how they want to proceed in terms of presenting the witness at trial.

The trial date is set for June 5 at 9 a.m.