Closing Arguments Clash Over Motive for Non-Fatal Shooting

By Laura Berol , Lucy Orgolini - September 24, 2024
Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

Adrian Lee‘s defense attorney, Albert Amissah, said Lee fired a gun in reasonable fear for his life. Meanwhile, the prosecution said he used unjustified deadly force in a verbal altercation. The exchange came during closing arguments before DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt on Sept. 23.

Lee, 49, is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault knowingly while armed, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with significant bodily injury while armed, five counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in a non-fatal shooting incident on April 18, 2023, on the 700 block of Gresham Place, NW, that left one person injured.

Parties agreed Lee’s wife got in a car accident with the victim and his fiancée, and called Lee to bring his auto insurance card. They agreed Lee’s wife drove away and Lee ran away from the crash scene while the victim and his fiancée still had Lee’s insurance card which turned out to be expired.

According to the prosecutor, the victim and his fiancée accidentally came upon Lee twice more and tried to return his insurance card. The first time was moments after Lee allegedly ran from the scene of the accident, and the second time was after the victim and his fiancée asked a police officer how to report a hit-and-run accident.

“They were told to go back to the scene, and that’s what they did,” said the prosecutor. “If they were trying to pursue vigilante street justice, why would they ask the police what to do?”

The prosecutor’s argument was based on the victim’s and his fiancée’s limited information about DC as they randomly met up with Lee.

“Why didn’t they just use that fancy GPS in their Tesla?” Amissah asked.

He said although the victim and his fiancée testified they were trying to return to the scene of the accident after speaking to police, they had to pass the scene of the accident to meet up with Lee the second time.

“The officer told them, ‘Go back to the scene and call 911.’ They didn’t do that,” Amissah argued, “They weren’t trying to go home. They weren’t trying to get to the scene of the accident. They were looking for him [Lee].”

Amissah said the accident caused minimal damage, and the victim and his fiancée had no reason to return Lee’s insurance card. 

“The fact of following Lee around for three or four blocks with an expired insurance card is threatening in itself,” Amissah said.

“The bottom line is, do you believe that [the victim and his fiancée] had a gun?” the prosecutor told the jury during closing arguments. “There is no evidence that [they] had a gun.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he thought [the victim] had a gun. That’s not the law,” Amissah said. “It’s whether Mr. Lee feared for his life.”

“He brought a gun to a verbal argument, and that is not reasonable,” the prosecutor countered. “The defendant used deadly force. He decided to shoot someone. And the standard under our law for using deadly force, thankfully, is not that you’re a little bit alarmed.”

“We’ve got two stories,” the prosecutor told the jury regarding Lee’s testimony.

Lee said he wasn’t the shooter when he was interviewed by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective shortly after his arrest, the prosecutor noted, displaying the cover art of Shaggy’s 2000 hit single “It Wasn’t Me” for the jury.

“I could go through this s*** and fight this s***, but I didn’t shoot nobody,” Lee said in surveillance video footage of his interview that the prosecutor played.

“If I was the shooter, wouldn’t I be screaming self-defense?” Lee said to the detective. When asked if he felt threatened at all, he replied, “Not enough to shoot somebody. F*** no.”

“The defendant already told you what he would do when he came up here: he would scream self-defense,” the prosecutor said. She told the jury not to be fooled into buying Lee’s argument.

The prosecutor said the jury should take Lee at his word that he didn’t feel threatened by the victims.

“Self-defense is a complete defense to the charges,” Judge Brandt instructed the jury, “If Adrian Lee actually believed he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm and that belief was reasonable.

“He may not use any greater force than he actually and reasonably believes to be necessary,” Judge Brandt continued.

Parties will reconvene when the jury reaches a verdict.