Defense Asks to End Separation to Get Defendant Out of ‘The Hole’ 

By Natalie Note - September 30, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

Three co-defendants were arraigned on a 26 count indictment and pleaded not guilty before DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan on Sept. 27, before a defendant’s attorney requested their separation order be vacated. 

Derricko Johnson, 20, Ronald Henderson, 19, and Daveon Robinson, 17, are all charged with a total of 13 counts of possession of a firearm and 12 counts of assault with intent to kill. Johnson and Henderson are also charged with first-degree premeditated murder and a total of six counts of carrying a pistol without a license. Additionally, Henderson and Robinson are charged with conspiracy.

According to court documents, these charges stem from the co-defendants alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Justin Johnson at the 2000 block of Savannah Terrace, SE on May 26, 2022. 

At the hearing, all three co-defendants waived their right to formal reading of their charges, pleaded not guilty, and submitted a request for release. Judge Raffinan asked for Johnson’s and Henderson’s attorneys to submit their request for release in writing. The matter of Robinson’s release will be addressed at an Oct. 16 hearing. 

Lisbeth Sapristein, Henderson’s attorney, asked Judge Raffinan to remove the separation order that the Department of Corrections (DOC) had implemented between Henderson and Robinson. Sapristein said Henderson is being held in solitary confinement to abide by the separation order and it is unfair to “restrain his liberty” until Henderson’s August 2025 trial date. 

Saperstein said Henderson had been in this situation before and was released from solitary confinement. She argued that because Henderson was not “in the hole” because of disciplinary action, the separation order should be lifted and he should be free to move about the jail.

The prosecution said they were against the lifting of the separation order due to the conspiracy charges filed against Henderson and Robinson. The prosecuting attorney said when Henderson was released from solitary confinement in the past, he was involved in a jail stabbing. 

Judge Raffinan said she has no authority to lift a separation order that was requested by the prosecution and imposed by the DOC. Henderson’s original release from solitary confinement was a result of the prosecution’s withdrawing its request with the DOC, not the court ordering Henderson to be released, Judge Raffinan said. 

Judge Raffinan asked Saperstein to file something in writing or speak to the prosecution about withdrawing its request for separation. 

All parties are slated to reconvene on Nov. 22.