Judge Delays Murder Trial for PTSD Evaluation of Defendant

By Laura Berol - June 18, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The murder trial of Kenneth Stewart will be delayed to allow an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to evaluate him, DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo ruled on June 16.

Stewart, 62, is charged with first-degree murder while armed and assault with a dangerous weapon for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of Courtney Jones, 54. The incident took place on July 23, 2020, on DC 295 southbound, just prior to the Pennsylvania Avenue exit.

According to court documents, Stewart and Jones were riding home from a visit to National Harbor with two other men, when Stewart began taking swings at Jones, forcing the driver of the vehicle to pull over.

The driver of the vehicle told police that Jones, seeing Stewart pull a knife, struck Stewart on the head with a glass bottle. The driver said Stewart went to Jones’ side of the vehicle and stabbed him multiple times before the driver could pull away and leave Stewart behind.

Stewart’s defense attorney, Dominique Winters, argued before Judge Demeo at a hearing on June 14 that Stewart should be personally evaluated for PTSD because an expert who has reviewed Stewart’s records believes his experiences suggest a strong likelihood of the disorder. 

Winters explained that she can’t ethically call her client to the stand to testify on his own behalf, due to his prior criminal history. Thus, the testimony of a PTSD expert is the only way to inform the jury of Stewart’s history of trauma and its effect on how Stewart perceives danger, which is crucial to Stewart’s claim to self-defense.

According to Winters, Stewart was once hospitalized for two weeks after being shot in the back, and on another occasion he was stabbed in the back. Winters asserted that the blow from the glass bottle that Stewart suffered during the altercation with Jones was to the back of the head, recalling the trauma of his previous assaults from behind.

The prosecution opposed the motion to delay Stewart’s trial on the grounds that the case is already four years old and that a PTSD evaluation couldn’t help Stewart’s defense.

“This is the kind of case that exacerbates the public’s disillusion with the justice system and our ability to hold violent offenders accountable or, conversely, to allow someone who is innocent to be acquitted and be released,” the prosecutor said in protest against the length of time the case is taking.

“At the trial, we believe the evidence will clearly show that the defendant has forfeited his claim to self-defense on both provocation and first aggressor grounds,” the prosecutor stated. 

According to court documents, the driver of the vehicle carrying Stewart and Jones on the day of the incident told police that Stewart had been trying to provoke Jones all day, but Jones had been trying to avoid a fight.

The prosecutor maintained that a PTSD diagnosis would not be admissible as evidence to support a claim of self-defense because it would constitute a diminished capacity defense, which isn’t legal in DC.  As opposed to pleading insanity which means a person can’t distinguish between right and wrong, a diminished capacity defense means a suspect is mentally incapable of intentionally committing a crime.

Winters responded that attorneys from the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDSDC) had called PTSD experts to testify in previous trials.

Judge Demeo postponed making a ruling on the defense’s motion at the hearing, saying she needed time to read the case law on the admissibility of PTSD evidence. 

On June 16, Judge Demeo granted the motion to delay the trial for a PTSD evaluation.

Stewart’s next hearing is scheduled for June 18.