The prosecution claimed a “blizzard” of evidence proves Bernard Eddy‘s guilt in a homicide case, while the defense said the case rested on a single unreliable witness during closing arguments before DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan on April 21.
Eddy, 25, is charged with first-degree murder premeditated while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license outside his home or place of business. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the shooting of 16-year-old Steffen Brathwaite on Sept. 10, 2019, on the 3000 block of 24th Place, SE.
Brathwaite was murdered a few minutes past midnight as he was walking to a friend’s house. Police heard gunshots and ran to the scene, where they discovered Brathwaite on the ground in a pool of blood.
Brathwaite was killed by five gunshot wounds from behind. Two of the shots were angled upwards, which indicated Brathwaite was already on the ground when they struck him, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution argued Eddy killed Brathwaite because he believed Brathwaite was one of the killers of Eddy’s friend, Gerald Watson, who was murdered the year before.
Only four hours before Brathwaite was shot, Eddy created an image on his phone that superimposed the words, “Missing you like crazy,” over a photo of Watson.
“Steffen Brathwaite had the right to be tried in this courtroom like the defendant here today,” the prosecutor told the jury. “One man can’t decide who is guilty. That is for a jury.”
Eddy and Watson lived in the Langston neighborhood, which has a history of conflict with the Hartford neighborhood next door, where Brathwaite lived.
“Who had the motive [to kill Brathwaite]?” the prosecution asked the jury. “I think the defense and the [prosecution] would agree on this: pretty much everyone in the Langston neighborhood.”
Julie Swaney, Eddy’s defense attorney, did not agree. She stated the prosecution didn’t provide evidence to show Eddy or anyone else in Langston attributed Watson’s shooting to Brathwaite.
“Nothing tells us that Bernard Eddy was so upset and angry that he committed revenge for Gerald Watson’s murder,” Swaney told the jury. .
The prosecution showed a video from Eddy’s phone from hours after Brathwaite’s murder, in which he mimed a shooting, took a draw on a blunt, and said, “Smoking Steff pack.” Witnesses testified at trial that the expression is a way of celebrating someone’s death by pretending to smoke the person’s remains.
Swaney argued this video wasn’t evidence of Eddy’s guilt. He didn’t need direct experience of the killing to know Brathwaite had been shot, since he could have heard about the police investigation from other people in the neighborhood.
“His teenage antics are not a reason to convict him of first-degree premeditated murder,” Swaney argued.
About seven months after Brathwaite’s death, in an unrelated investigation, police seized a Ruger SR9C handgun. A toolmark and firearms examiner determined that the cartridge casings found around Brathwaite’s body could have been shot by that Ruger.
Swaney pointed out that the toolmark and firearms examiner couldn’t determine with certainty that the Ruger was the one used in Brathwaite’s shooting. Swaney said another witness testified that police frequently find Rugers at crime scene investigations.
The prosecution displayed a video of Eddy’s from less than an hour after Brathwaite’s death, saying “Ruger” while revealing a gun magazine sticking out of his waistband. The magazine resembled the one in the Ruger recovered by police.
Swaney argued the video doesn’t show a gun, only a magazine, and that magazine isn’t distinctive enough to prove it’s the same one police recovered.
“There is nothing unique about what was sticking out of Mr. Eddy’s waistband,” Swaney said.
The afternoon following the shooting, a rapper visiting from Chicago posed for photos with Eddy while holding a gun similar to the Ruger police later recovered. At trial, the rapper testified that someone in the group lent him the gun for the photos.
Swaney said the rapper’s description of the person who handed him the Ruger for the photographs didn’t match Eddy. According to Swaney, it matched a man who appeared in another video on Eddy’s phone, and that man had a motive to attack Brathwaite because Brathwaite earlier fired a gun at his car.
Surveillance video footage on the night of the incident showed Eddy getting picked up by a vehicle five minutes before the shooting. One of the other people in the vehicle testified against Eddy and received a plea deal on numerous charges for gun possession and shootings in exchange for his cooperation with police.
The witness testified that their vehicle drove past Brathwaite and Eddy said, “That’s a body,” indicating Brathwaite was a potential “kill.” The witness said Eddy instructed the driver to circle back around,” and drop him off. According to the witness, he heard gunshots while Eddy was out of sight, and then Eddy returned to the car.
Swaney pointed out that the witness initially claimed in a police interview not to know Braithwaite or Eddy. He didn’t testify against Eddy until after Eddy had been arrested and, according to Swaney, the witness knew what evidence the police had against Eddy.
“What does he do? He makes the story fit,” Swaney said about the witness.
Swaney stated the witness changed his testimony about what Eddy said when he returned to the car. At the grand jury, the witness testified that Eddy said, “I think I got him.” Shortly before the trial, he testified that Eddy said, “I hit him.” At the trial itself, he testified that Eddy didn’t say anything.
The prosecution argued that the witness was frightened to testify at trial because of fear of retribution. The witness expressed concerns that people in the gallery were photographing him during the trial, according to the prosecution.
“Why go through all that, if it wasn’t true?” the prosecutor asked.
The prosecutor said the witness could have attributed Brathwaite’s shooting to someone who had been shot and killed since then, if he wanted to lie in order to receive the benefit of a plea deal without becoming a target of revenge.
Swaney said the prosecution wouldn’t have offered a plea deal if the witness hadn’t provided evidence against someone living.
“What evidence has the [prosecution] really shown you about Mr. Eddy’s guilt in this case?” Swaney asked the jury. “The witness who came in here and talked over three days, he has significant motivation to fabricate his testimony for the [prosecution].”
“You must not turn one tragedy into two and wrongly convict Bernard Eddy of Steffen [Brathwaite]’s murder,” Swaney said.
The prosecution pointed out that justice equally goes awry when a jury fails to convict a defendant in spite of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict them.
“That is also a tragedy,” the prosecutor said.
After Judge Ryan instructed the jury, they began deliberations.
Parties will next convene when the jury returns a verdict.
