The prosecution argued a stabbing defendant escalated a fight with a pair of scissors in a stabbing trial before DC Superior Court Judge Robert Salerno on April 6.
Stephanie Fawbush, 51, is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, with an aggravating factor of the victim being a Metro transit officer or station manager, and threatening to kidnap or injure a person. These charges stem from her alleged involvement in a stabbing on the 900 block of 17th Street, NW on Aug. 14, 2023. One victim sustained a stab wound to his arm and another was assaulted in the crossfire.
The stabbing victim, a bus driver for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), continued his testimony with cross-examination from Fawbush’s attorney, Tammy Thom. Thom revealed through questioning that bus drivers are trained to de-escalate situations, implying that his handling of the situation could have been improved.
Thom also played a video and the stabbing victim identified himself stepping between Fawbush and the assault victim.
On re-direct from prosecutors, the stabbing victim stated that Fawbush “lunged forward with her fists out” while the assault victim backed away.
The prosecution also called two of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers that responded to the scene.
The first MPD officer identified the scissors he recovered from the scene in the courtroom from a picture taken at the scene and the physical weapon. In response to a question from a juror, the officer confirmed that the scissors were used in the offense because they would not have been collected from the scene if they were not.
Another MPD officer said that a “show up,” or a process where the suspect is presented to eyewitnesses for identification was performed for this incident. The result of that test was one of the victims identifying the suspect as Fawbush. The officer also identified Fawbush as the suspect in court.
Without the jury present, Thom motioned for judgement of acquittal, meaning she asked Judge Salerno to dismiss the case due to insufficient evidence from the prosecutors. The judge denied the motion, and found that the prosecutors provided sufficient evidence, and that witness testimony and surveillance footage showed that the victims were injured during the incident.
After Fawbush declined to testify, the parties argued about jury instructions. Thom requested self-defense instructions, and the prosecutors requested transfer of intent instructions. The transfer of intent instructions would hold Fawbush liable for injuring one of the victims, despite them not being the intended target. Prosecutors stated that the jury was entitled to find Fawbush guilty of harming the unintended victim.
“You’re going to die today,” the prosecution said in their closing, recalling what the assault victim claimed Fawbush said to her two weeks before.
Two weeks later, the prosecution alleged, Fawbush approached her and started an altercation, loudly alleging the assault victim testified against her. The assault victim claimed in her testimony, according to the prosecutors, she had no recollection of testifying against Fawbush in any other cases.
Bystanders noticed the commotion, including when the victim was stabbed when attempting to split up the fight.
According to the prosecution, Fawbush is guilty of assaulting both victims and not in self-defense. The prosecution played surveillance footage of the altercation, drawing attention to Fawbush actions before and during. “She’s fixated on [the assault victim],” the prosecution said.
When he tried to intervene, the stabbing victim was able to get between the two women with his arms extended. Fawbush, who was getting up off the ground, then “lunged” at the assault victim, jabbing at her from underneath the stabbing victim’s arm. The prosecution argued the action of reaching under the stabbing victim’s arm implied Fawbush was aware of his presence as a shield.
The prosecution reminded the jury that Fawbush did not act in self-defense but instead she was the aggressor to both victims. “There is no reason at this moment that Fawbush should believe she is in danger of [the assault victim] at all,” the prosecution said, yet, she did not simply get up but lunged forward.
“You can’t just incite a confrontation then avail yourself of a weapon when it does not go your way,” the prosecution said. “You can’t bring a sharp object to a fist fight.”
Thom encouraged the jury “not to play Monday morning quarterback,” and to consider Fawbush’s thought process “in the moment.”
Thom argued the assault victim was not being honest in her testimonies, being inconsistent with her grand jury statements. The assault victim claimed Fawbush threatened her and incited the fight, approaching her first by “lunging and throwing fists.”
Thom, on the other hand, said Fawbush approached the assault victim with her hands in her pocket without intent to harm her. After an argument began, the assault victim put a personal fan in Fawbush’s face. Only at that moment had Fawbush taken her hand out of her pocket. She whacked the fan out of the assault victim’s hand. The assault victim, Thom emphasized, “slammed” Fawbush to the ground.
“I was irritated, [Fawbush] was in my face,” Thom recalled the assault victim’s testimony.
When the stabbing victim put himself between the two women, Thom argued it was reasonable for Fawbush to believe she was in continued danger because she could assume they knew each other from their shared uniforms.
Additionally, Thom said Fawbush held the scissors in a way that was not intended to incite significant bodily harm to either victim. She was reportedly holding the scissors with the end poking out, not weaponized like a knife. When the altercation ceased, Thom pointed out, Fawbush de-escalated and walked away. She crossed the street and smoked a cigarette.
Thom encouraged the jury to question the credibility of the assault victim’s account. She said the assault victim is “covering for herself,” because she knew her actions were not de-escalation as her job encourages, but aggression. Thom told the jury she doubts the initial threat by Fawbush ever happened.
The prosecution echoed the threat allegedly made by Fawbush telling the assault victim she would die. They encouraged the jury to disregard Thom’s accusations and trust the assault victim. “[Fawbush] wanted to get back at her,” the prosecution said.
Parties will reconvene when the jury reaches a verdict.
