DC Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean on June 25 heard a request to sever a joint trial for two men charged with carjacking because of scheduling issues.
Derrick Coltrane, 40, and Ira Shaw-Bates, 22, are charged with unarmed carjacking for their alleged involvement in an incident on June 6 on the 300 block of N Street, NE.
According to court documents, the victim was standing outside the front passenger door of his car when Coltrane allegedly approached demanding his phone. Shaw-Bates then allegedly approached as well and Coltrane demanded the victim’s car keys while physically searching him. Coltrane and Shaw-Bates allegedly then drove off in the victims car with his wallet and keys.
During the hearing, scheduling conflicts were raised. Initially the issue was that Shaw-Bates was scheduled for trial in another case. The prosecution and Shaw-Bates’ defense attorneys, Damayanti Desai and Varsha Govindaraju, then had availability issues that prevented Judge McLean from scheduling a joint trial with the two co-defendants.
Coltrane’s defense attorney, Lisbeth Sapirstein, then stated her own availability issues that would further delay a joint trial. Coltrane stated that he was not interested in changing his attorney which might have allowed for a trial date to be set.
Citing her defendant’s right to a speedy trail, Sapirstein said she plans to request severance of the Coltrane and Shaw-Bates’ trials. The prosecution responded that they intend to argue to keep a joint trial for the co-defendants.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on July 15.
