Counsel Argues Over Admissibility of Expert’s Testimony

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 11, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

During a motions hearing on June 10, a defense attorney for a murder defendant argued that testimony from an firearms expert needs to be highly restricted in court.

Marquette Tibbs, 27, is charged with first-degree murder while armed and two gun-related charges for his alleged role in the shooting of 37-year-old Orlando Silver III . The shooting occurred on the 1300 block of Howard Road, SE in 2016.  

Tibbs’ defense attorney, Jessica Robbins, said that in order to prevent a jury from being misled by “certainty statements,” or wording that would indicate that bullet casings came from a “particular gun,” the expert’s testimony should be restricted.

According to Robbins, “certainty statements” were problematic because they would make the jury believe that bullet casings found on the scene are definitively from the gun in question.

Robbins also requested that the jury receive an instruction about the error rate that occurs when matches between bullet casings and guns are made. She said the error rate could be as high as 35 percent. 

However, the prosecution said studies have shown that highly trained firearms examiners could properly identify bullet casings without making any errors. The prosecution said the method of matching casings to guns should not be excluded from court or considered invalid because of the extremely high success rate.

The prosecution also said the expert should be allowed to testify in court. However, the prosecution agreed that the expert should not be able to offer an opinion.

DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman said he needed time to think about the arguments that were made. He said he would rule on the motion on July 12. He also scheduled another motions hearing on July 2, where counsel is expected to discuss an issue with the evidence in the case.