In a May 12 hearing, DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan established a litigation schedule to determine whether a convicted homicide defendant was the victim of ineffective assistance of counsel in his trial.
Deonte Patterson, 30, was convicted by a jury on March 28, 2025 of first-degree premeditated murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and obstructing justice for his involvement in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Ali Jamil Al-Mahdi on Aug. 23, 2021 on the 1800 block of 9th Street, NW. Al-Mahdi died from five gunshot wounds to his arm, chest, and trunk areas.
Following his conviction, Patterson wrote a letter to Judge Ryan, filed on May 30, 2025, that requested an appeal to his conviction as soon as possible and said “My lawyer worked against me the whole trial. Also made several comments saying she was not working hard because she was not getting paid. I also tried to fire her.”
As a result, Judge Ryan dismissed Patterson’s former attorney, Cheryl Stein, on June 27, 2025, and appointed Destiny Fullwood-Singh to represent him. Fullwood-Singh then filed a motion on Oct. 3, 2025 that argued Stein provided ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) and asked Judge Ryan to vacate Patterson’s conviction and grant him a new trial.
Fullwood-Singh’s motion states “Stein did not deliver an opening statement, conducted little meaningful cross-examination, had difficulty hearing the proceedings, and called no witnesses” to support Patterson’s self-defense claim. The motion further mentions that according to DC Department of Corrections (DOC) records, Stein did not visit Patterson between July 11, 2024 and March 22, 2025. Patterson’s trial started on March 18, 2025.
At the hearing, parties discussed an order from Judge Ryan on April 30 that granted the prosecution’s request for a limited waiver of attorney-client privilege between Patterson and Stein to allow the prosecution to understand and respond to the issue.
Judge Ryan emphasized his responsibility to ensure that if he granted a retrial, Patterson would be in the same position as if the trial was error free the first time. As a result, Judge Ryan said if the prosecutor who tried the case the first time is involved in the IAC, she should not be involved in the retrial. A prosecutor from the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) Special Proceedings Division said the trial prosecutor was assigned to Patterson’s case from the start and planned to remain until the conclusion.
The special proceedings prosecutor asked whether the assigned prosecutor could be involved in the IAC unless there is privileged material. Judge Ryan emphasized that he could not make an anticipatory or hypothetical ruling without knowing what would occur at the IAC hearing or whether privileged information would arise.
The parties are scheduled to reconvene on July 10.
