The responding detective testified in a shooting trial before DC Superior Court Judge Deborah Israel on Sept. 29.
Daquan Toland, 25, is charged with aggravated assault knowingly while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting that took place at the Waterfront Metro station on the 300 block of M Street SW on June 2.
The prosecution called the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective that responded to the incident to testify about videos from the crime scene and the arrest of Toland. Surveillance footage from inside the station, police cameras, security tapes from the Safeway across the street, and body-worn camera video from the arresting officers were entered as exhibits and confirmed by the witness.
Footage from the incident showed someone in a white shirt, who prosecutors alleged was Toland, riding a bike past the Metro station where he came into contact with two individuals wearing all black.
The individual wearing white and one wearing black then pull out firearms and retreat while firing at each other. The individual in white sprinted into the Metro station. Different video footage showed an individual in a white shirt who boarded a Green Line train, and exited at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station. Toland is supposedly captured on body-worn camera footage exiting the Chinatown stop where he was apprehended by police.
When the MPD detective was cross examined, Henry Druschel, Toland’s defense attorney, pointed out two individuals in orange vests while reviewing the surveillance footage from a Safeway. He asked why they were not considered witnesses or suspects. The detective was able to confirm that they were not WMATA officers, but did not consider them witnesses or suspects, and they remain unidentified.
Druschel also asked the detective about a ballistics report that the detective filed for this incident. In his first testimony, the detective claimed they found evidence of two weapons being fired. During the cross examination, he noted that there may have been a third, but that he would need to review the report to verify.
Druschel also called in an MPD officer who responded to the scene to testify and review body camera footage. In the video, Druschel pointed out an individual in an orange vest seen in the Metro station and asked if the police considered them relevant to the case. The officer didn’t regard the individual on the day of the crime, as she was focused on getting to the scene.
The prosecution submitted three additional pieces of evidence, which were audio recordings. One was a piece of an interview with on-scene witnesses, who identified one of the suspects as wearing a white shirt.
The other two recordings were from calls reporedly between Toland and his mother regarding an alleged robbery against Toland. In one, his mother can be heard asking why Toland had a gun, but the recording ends shortly after with no clarification.
After the jury left for the day, Druschel motioned for acquittal but Judge Israel declared that she believed a reasonable juror would be able to convict Toland beyond reasonable doubt.
Parties are slated to reconvene on Sept. 30.
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Jackson Nielsen
Sean Kildea
