Judge Releases Defendant Due to DC Jail’s Inability To Treat His Injuries

By D.C. Witness Staff - January 20, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Domestic Violence | Suspects | Victims |

A sex abuse defendant was released after a DC Superior Court judge decided that his injuries were too complicated for the DC Jail to handle.

The defendant’s leg injury first occurred on approximately Sept. 1, 2021, at the DC Jail, where he was held after being arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a child. Parties discussed the issue during at least four hearings since the initial injury before they convened again on Jan. 20.

The defendant has been arraigned on his indictment and scheduled for trial since the injury first occurred. He is now charged with two counts of first-degree child sex abuse and one count of second-degree child sex abuse but rejected a plea offer for a lesser charge in January. The trial is set to commence in June.

Eric Glover is the General Counsel for the Department of Corrections (DOC). He gave information on the defendant’s medical situation, explaining that the defendant had received an MRI. This showed that while the defendant may not need surgery, the injury has not gotten healed and rehabilitation is required.

In response, defense attorneys Jacqueline Cadman and Leo Alley requested their client’s release because it had been five months since his initial injury, yet he had not received full medical treatment. The defendant had been given crutches months before.

Judge Milton Lee said from watching him come in and out of the courtroom, it was “obvious” the defendant did not know how to use them.

Judge Lee noted that on two separate occasions the DC Jail had said the defendant was on quarantine due to either a positive COVID test or an exposure to someone who did. One of these occasions led to the defendant missing a doctor’s appointment for his injury.

It was later found that this was a mistake the Department of Corrections had made. The defendant had not been in quarantine either time. They had also made a second mistake. The defendant had fallen when being transported. In order to help assist the defendant, one of the DOC officers took his medical paperwork from him. The officer had then misplaced the documents and as far as the court knows, they are gone.

Judge Lee said he was incredibly disappointed and frustrated by the jail’s handling of the defendant’s medical issues. He said if anyone in the general public had the same injury, they would not have to wait months to seek help as the defendant did and that he was concerned about the “absence of response to an injury.”

“The jail just did not believe he was injured,” Judge Lee said.

The prosecution had questions based on a previous determination that the defendant was too dangerous to be released. They said that in the preliminary hearing the defendant was found too dangerous to be released and was supposed to stay at DC Jail.

“I am ruling now that he is no longer a danger,” Judge Lee said, explaining that the defendant’s injury directly affects the danger he presents to the community. He also said that after the jail made mistakes with the defendant’s COVID test, he does not trust them to appropriately handle his medical issues.

The prosecution questioned if releasing the defendant would be safe since he would be released into the case of his mother, who allegedly knew about the allegations the children made about the defendant before his arrest but did nothing.

Judge Lee maintained that, because of his injury, he is not at the same level of dangerousness compared to before. He ordered that the defendant be released into the High Intensity Supervision Program under 24-hour home confinement.