DC Superior Court Judge Errol Arthur postponed a carjacking trial on July 31 to allow the defense more time for DNA testing.
Miquel Beasley, 22, is charged with armed carjacking in connection with an incident that occurred on March 22, 2024, on the 3900 block of 1st Street, SE.
According to court documents, Beasley entered the victim’s vehicle for a marijuana transaction that allegedly escalated when Beasley pulled out a handgun. He then allegedly forced the victim out of the vehicle before fleeing the scene in it.
Beasley’s defense attorney, Marnitta King, requested a new trial date, arguing that the prosecution had handed over the results of their second round of DNA testing too close to the original trial scheduled for the next week. King stated she didn’t have enough time for her own experts to properly analyze the DNA evidence and asked the court to exclude the prosecution’s test results from the evidence to be presented at trial.
The prosecutor countered that he had notified the defense as early as possible about the second round of DNA testing, and he couldn’t control how quickly the lab provided results. He maintained that he acted in good faith and argued that the additional testing was critical to the argument he planned to present at trial, as it included DNA swabs from the vehicle’s steering wheel and turning signal handle.
Judge Arthur decided not to exclude the second round of DNA testing but granted the defense a delay of 45 days to find a new expert to analyze the additional DNA evidence. The trial date was pushed back to later this year.
The parties are slated to reconvene on Aug. 7.
