Judge Issues Four Bench Warrants During Show Cause Hearings

By D.C. Witness Staff - September 16, 2020
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A DC Superior Court judge issued four bench warrants and continued four hearings during pretrial and probation show cause hearings on Sept. 16.

Judge Danya Dayson issued a bench warrant for a defendant convicted of drug charges  who failed to appear in court. 

Damian Hawkins was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia in July 2017.

He has received two alleged violation reports this year. He never reported to the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) and has remained a loss of contact. 

Judge Dayson also issued a bench warrant for Deandre Smith’s arrest. 

Smith, 22, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a license outside home or place of business, possession of an unregistered firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and resisting arrest. 

The judge made this decision because several notices of noncompliance with his pretrial release conditions and his failure to appear in court.

Smith also has an outstanding extraditable warrant in Prince George’s County. 

Kevin Powell, a 41 year-old charged with second-degree burglary, also failed to appear in court. Judge 

Lastly, Judge Dayson issued a bench warrant for Mark Odoms after he did not show up to his pretrial show cause hearing. 

Odoms, 21, is charged with carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business in one case and simple assault in another. A notice of noncompliance was filed on Aug. 26.

Judge Dayson denied defense attorney Sylvia Smith’s request to have her client taken off of home confinement. 

Malik Shelton, who is also known as Shane Smith, is charged with possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, amphetamines. 

Despite denying the request to lift his home confinement, the judge ruled that Shelton, 23,  has come into compliance following his Aug. 17 pretrial show cause hearing. 

Judge Dayson scheduled another pretrial show cause hearing to give Demeatrey James time to come into compliance with his pretrial release conditions. 

James, 25, is charged with carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. A notice of noncompliance was filed on Sept. 1.

The judge also continued a  probation show cause hearing to see if Tracy Vandyke is continuing with his progress. 

Vandyke pleaded guilty to fleeing a law enforcement officer and offenses committed during release in February 2018. Since his release, he has received three notices of non compliance with probation. However, his probation officer said that he has recently made a turnaround in compliance. 

A continued probation show cause hearing was scheduled for next week to give Paris Simmons time to reach out to CSOSA.

Simmons pleaded guilty to robbery and carrying a dangerous weapon outside of a home or business in August 2018. Since he has been on supervised probation he has incurred a violation for failure to charge his GPS and has a pattern of not maintaining contact with CSOSA. According to his defense attorney Sean Murphy, Simmons could not make the hearing today because he has been showing COVID-19 symptoms for the past two weeks. 

Finally, Judge Dayson scheduled a pretrial show cause hearing for a defendant, Delonte Morris, who failed to appear to court.

Morris, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft and second-degree burglary on Jan. 17 and is currently awaiting sentencing. 

The defendant was released into the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) with orders to report to the PSA. A notice of noncompliance was filed on Sept. 15. Morris’ PSA officer said that she had not had contact with him for a month. 

Judge Dayson gave Morris’ defense attorney, Joseph Yarbough a week to see if he could establish contact with his client. 

Morris is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 5, 2021.