Defense Questions Witness’s Credibility After Testimony

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 19, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

New evidence offered by the defense contradicts what a witness said during his testimony in a murder trial. 

Paul Swann is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting Adam Barker on the 2700 block of Langston Place, SE in 2016. According to court documents, Swann, 24; Traveous Brown, and one other unidentified person approached Barker, 21, after a verbal altercation. The documents state that Swann and Brown shot at Barker. Swann was arrested shortly after Barker’s death for an unrelated gun charge.

On July 16, Mani Golzari, Swann’s attorney, asked a person, whom the prosecution says witnessed the murder if he used a law enforcement database known as Justis to identify Swann. The eyewitness denied ever using the database to research Swann.

Justis keeps records of alleged offenders. The database also monitors use. On July 17,  Golzari gave the court a record that showed the eyewitnesses logged onto the system prior to being asked to identify the suspect. Golzari said the witness used the database to get a profile of Swann.

According to the witness’s testimony, he was in his van, which was within 15 feet of the altercation, when it occurred.  The witness told a police officer minutes after the shooting that the suspect was a black male with dreadlocks who wore a black jacket. The witness later said the suspect displayed a scowl before the shooting.

During cross-examination, Golzari asked the witness how it was that he could see the suspect’s scowl, but couldn’t see Swann’s face tattoos. Apparently, the witness only told detectives about the tattoos after he logged into the database. 

Defense counsel told the jury during their opening arguments July 16 that the only eyewitness of the crime was unreliable because the incident allegedly happened within a matter of seconds, and as such, he couldn’t tell who actually committed the crime.