DC Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean granted the prosecution additional time to respond to a shooting defendant’s motion for release on July 6.
Ervon Clyburn, 34, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his alleged involvement in a June 20 physical altercation and exchange of gunfire on the 1500 block of F Street, NE. No injuries were reported.
James Brockway, Clyburn’s attorney, filed a motion for release on July 5, arguing that Clyburn does not pose a threat to community safety and should be allowed to return to his family.
Clyburn is a life-long DC resident and “a proud father of a four-year-old daughter,” according to Brockway. If released, Clyburn is eager to resume his two demanding jobs, fulfill his parental responsibilities, and receive support from his biological mother and adoptive family, wrote Brockway.
The motion also emphasized that the person the prosecution identified as Clyburn “has a strong self-defense claim.” Surveillance footage showed a man in a black T-shirt, which the prosecution alleged is Clyburn, being “restrained, choked, punched, and shoved” by multiple individuals, according to Brockway. The affidavit likewise affirmed that the man in the black T-shirt was shoved to the ground by an unidentified person.
After a failed attempt to flee, the man in the black T-shirt fired a single gunshot, while multiple rounds of gunfire were returned in his direction, according to both the motion and affidavit.
The prosecution’s “own evidence strongly suggests that the person it claims is Mr. Clyburn is not the perpetrator of a crime, but is instead a victim,” wrote Brockway.
No person at the scene of the incident identified Clyburn as the man in the black T-shirt, and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who identified Clyburn from surveillance footage had no prior familiarity with him, according to Brockway.
Brockway wrote that the prosecution’s evidence showing Clyburn was the man in the video is “exceedingly weak.”
As Clyburn has no history of failing to appear in court or bench warrants, Brockway argued that there is nothing to suggest he would fail to comply with release conditions, if placed on electronic monitoring and home confinement. Continuing to separate Clyburn from his family is “contrary to the law, fundamental fairness, and common sense,” wrote Brockway.
The parties are slated to reconvene on July 10, where the prosecution will respond to the defense’s motion for bond review.
