DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson severed four counts of possession of an unregistered firearm from a shooting defendant’s charges on Sept. 25, just days before the parties were set to go to trial.
Ato Ocran, 46, is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault knowingly while armed, two counts assault with a dangerous weapon, four counts possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, five counts possession of an unregistered firearm, destruction of property of $1000 or more, and carrying a pistol without a license outside the home. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a shooting on the 2200 block of 13th St. NE, on June 3.
One person was harmed during the incident.
During the hearing, defense attorneys Kevann Gardner and Elizabeth Paige White motioned to sever four gun-related counts from the charges set to go to trial and change the court’s position on several key items of evidence.
The defense’s motion to sever the firearms charges was met with little opposition from prosecutors who told Judge Dayson that they had modified their stance from an earlier objection and no longer opposed the motion.
“The reason they’re not contesting severance is because they realize there are vital things that were not provided to the defense,” Gardner said.
Judge Dayson severed the counts from the trial charges, though she did not grant the defense’s request to dismiss the charges.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors also went back and forth on evidentiary issues about the defendant’s phone and the victim’s car. Shortly before the hearing, the defense asked prosecutors to release the phone so that they could access potentially exculpatory evidence on it.
Prosecutors objected to a full release of the phone to the defense, arguing, instead, that the defense provide prosecutors with the phone password and attain the information through a forensic analyst.
Gardner argued that prosecutors were asking them to weigh their client’s right to access evidence with his right not to incriminate himself. Prosecutors argued that the defense was using the phone evidence as both “sword and shield” to release the phone into their custody.
Ultimately, Judge Dayson ruled that the defense could temporarily access the phone through a walled off attorney to gather the evidence they needed while not breaking the chain of custody.
The parties also disputed whether the prosecution could enter the victim’s Jeep as evidence in the case. Gardner argued that police had failed to properly secure the Jeep as evidence, allowing it to return to the victim after it was first taken into police custody.
Paige-White argued that bullet holes in the Jeep were tampered with and that a knife was removed from the vehicle before the prosecution regained custody of it.
Prosecutors argued that police did not have custody of the vehicle when they first searched it after the shooting and that the physical presence of the knife in the vehicle was not exculpatory. Judge Dayson noted that whether or not the knife was exculpatory hinged on the custody issue of the vehicle and ordered parties to prepare briefs on the subject before the next hearing.
Parties are slated to reconvene Sept. 29.
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