Mass Shooting Trial is ‘Right on Schedule,’ Prosecutor Says

By Aerial Lopez [former] - March 7, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Suspects |

Despite conflicts with jurors, prosecutors said they still believe they’ll deliver their closing remarks on March 8.

During a March 6 proceeding, prosecutors brought four witnesses to testify against Travis B. Littlejohn, 37. Littlejohn is accused of shooting and wounding four people on the night of July 5, 2019. The incident occurred on the 3800 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE.

Before DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan called the case to order, she informed the defense and prosecution that the court received an email from a juror Sunday night. 

Raffinan said that this juror was requesting to be excused from their responsibilities to attend an uncle’s funeral down South. 

Both legal parties were hesitant to excuse this juror from the trial because two other jurors were  excused  the week before. 

However, Judge Raffinan told the attorneys it would be best to excuse the juror requesting an excused absence for his wife’s uncle’s funeral. The attorneys did not protest. This excuse marks the third excused juror in the case. 

During the third trial day on March 2, a juror requested to be excused from her civil duties. The morning of the trial the juror came to court in tears, explaining that the night before she experienced a “shoot-out” in her neighborhood. 

She told Judge Raffinan that because of her experience, she did not think she could be impartial in her judgment of this case.

When asked to tell the court about what happened, the juror told Judge Raffinan that there was a quadruple shooting in her neighborhood. 

She said that her apartment and others on her block were hit by stray bullets, which is when she went on social media and advocated for stricter gun laws. 

She appeared shaken as she was red in the face and sobbing. Both the defense and prosecution agreed that she should be allowed to excuse herself from the case. 

The first juror to be excused was excused for unrelated matters. Twelve jurors remain on the panel.

Aside from determining juror conflict resolution, four witnesses were called into court on Monday. These witnesses included a passer-by civilian, the trauma surgeon on call the night of the shooting, the sister of a victim, and the detective assigned to the case. To leave time to discuss jury matters, Judge Raffinan released the jury promptly at 4:30 p.m.

The trial is scheduled to continue on March 7 at 10 a.m. with more witness testimony.