DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park denied release for a murder defendant on July 29 even though a witness said he wasn’t the perpetrator.
Darrell M. Hinkle, 36, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Dajuan Blankey on April 21, on the 1500 block of 19th Street, SE.
According to court documents, the Metropolitan Police (MPD) went to the suspected location responding to the sounds of gunshots. Police found Blakney lying on the steps in front of a building. He was unresponsive and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Defense attorney Lucas Dansie brought an investigator from the Public Defender Service (PDS) to testify. The investigator said he interviewed a defense witness, who knew Hinkle, and presented him with surveillance footage of the crime. He testified that the witness told him the man in the video was not Hinkle.
“That man walks like a penguin,” the witness told the investigator. “Darrell doesn’t walk like that.”
The witness also said the man in the video had a different build and hairstyle from the defendant, according to the investigator.
During the prosecution’s cross examination, the investigator said he did not know how the witness knew Hinkle or for how long, because he did not ask.
“[The witness] could have flown here from Mars, as far as I know,” he said.
The prosecution scrutinized the value of the witness’ identification, noting that they were only shown one surveillance video when there were several other videos with different angles.
Judge Park decided the prosecution had sufficient evidence showing Hinkle probably caused the shooting, thus his release was denied.
Parties are slated to reconvene on Aug. 29.
