Judge Holds 14 Out of 43 Defendants During Initial Hearings

By D.C. Witness Staff - September 1, 2020
Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

On Aug. 31, DC Superior Court Judge James Crowell released 29 defendants and held 14 defendants in DC Jail during their initial hearings.

Judge Crowell held five defendants in domestic violence cases.

The first defendant is charged with violation of a Civil Protection Order (CPO) and contempt for violating a release condition. The judge deemed that he would not be able to comply with a government order as he has violated the protection order in place twice. 

The second defendant, charged with contempt for violating a release condition, was held because he has continually violated release conditions. Judge Crowell stated the defendant has been wholly out of compliance with pretrial services (PSA) since May, in addition to willfully violating court stay-away orders. 

A third defendant involved in a domestic violence case was held due to threatening his victim from a previous domestic violence case less than two months after the first incident.

The fourth domestic violence defendant that Judge Crowell held is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. He was placed into the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) in July and has since violated home confinement regulations close to twenty times. His disregard for the previous restrictions prompted the judge to grant the hold.

The final domestic violence defendant, who is being held, is charged with armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon, which was a gun. Judge Crowell held the defendant, citing a 2016 conviction involving the same complainant in his new case.

One defendant, David Lucas, is charged with unlawful entry of private property and GPS tampering for failing to charge his monitoring device. The judge released him in the unlawful entry case but held him in the GPS case because of his previous history of not complying with monitoring regulations.

Yaren Denbu, a fugitive from justice from Virginia is charged with aggravated assault with a gun. The judge labeled the nature of the charges extraordinarily serious and decided to hold him to give officers from the state of Virginia three days to pick him up.

Caleb Lavender, a fugitive from justice, is wanted in Maryland for first-degree assault. He is also charged with second-degree theft in another case. A bench warrant was also issued for his failure to appear to a hearing. The judge held Lavender in his fugitive case, citing the seriousness of the charge. 

Three fugitives from justice, Kevin Williams, Tyrell Burton and Cortez Smith, are wanted in Maryland for robbery. Based on their separate criminal history and the nature of their charges, Judge Crowell said he was inclined to hold them for three days. Smith is also on HISP in another DC criminal case, which the judge said further affirmed his decision. 

Amir Golden, who is charged with armed robbery for an alleged incident that occurred mid-day on Aug. 29, was held. The judge said the defendant already had multiple violations of probation. He stated the nature of the crime exemplifies that he may further pose a danger to the community. According to court documents, Golden allegedly violently robbed an individual of her purse using a firearm.

Natasha Smith was also held. She is charged with simple assault, assault on a police officer, and possession of a prohibited weapon in a misdemeanor case. She was deemed a loss of contact with PSA for a felony case she has pending for robbery. Judge Crowell was troubled by the loss of contact in her felony cases and the “serious misdemeanor” and granted the hold. 

According to the DC Courts website, Smith received two notices of noncompliance on Aug. 4 and June 5 in her felony case. She also had a hearing in the felony case on Aug. 31 which she missed because she was being held in jail for the misdemeanor offenses.

The final defendant held, Charlene Blocker, was brought in on three bench warrants for failing to appear at her hearings in two pending cases and a case for which she is on probation for. Her underlying charges in the cases include shoplifting, possession of drug paraphernalia and second-degree theft. Judge Crowell held Blocker, citing her dozens of convictions, multiple open cases and general lack of compliance.

Of those released, four defendants did not have charges filed against them and one was dismissed by the prosecution.

Judge Crowell released five defendants charged in domestic violence cases. All were given either stay-away orders or no harassing, assaultive, stalking or threatening (HATS) orders.

Three defendants charged with being fugitives from justice were released with orders to turn themselves in to the demanding jurisdictions within 24 hours.

Sixteen additional cases were heard by Judge Crowell, and all were released with various release conditions.