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By
Jeff Levine
- January 8, 2025
Daily Stories
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Homicides
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stabbing
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Victims
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Looking distinctly un-judge-like without his ceremonial robe, DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz appeared on a WebEx connection for a 10 a.m. Jan. 6 hearing.
However, he was the only one in attendance as the Superior Court, like other institutions in the District, was feeling the impact of the Sunday into Monday snowstorm. The hearing was pushed back from its original 9:30 a.m. start time.
The court’s instruction seemed clear enough: “On January 6th all remote oral arguments and remote hearings will proceed at the originally scheduled time.” But not everybody got the message.
The judge asked his clerk to call the parties to begin the proceeding in Christopher Moore’s case.
Moore, 24, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, threat to kidnap or injure a person, assault with intent to kill while armed and aggravated assault knowingly while armed in connection to a March 1 stabbing on the 700 block of 15th Street, NE.
According to court documents, the victim was stabbed multiple times after being assaulted by five or six people. He flagged down a police cruiser asking for help then subsequently collapsed and immediate aid was required to save his life.
The prosecutor, appearing virtually, apologized for being late, attributing the delay to the weather. Shortly after, Moore’s attorney, Sellano Simmons, also joined the hearing virtually.
Moore, meanwhile, didn’t participate because he was at the DC jail which has no remote capability.
Judge Kravitz apologized to the parties for any confusion noting that the usual procedure in bad weather is to roll over the cases to the following day. However, on the previous Friday, the judge said the decision was made to hold the hearings remotely.
The only action at Moore’s hearing was to reschedule it for Jan. 8. Overall, the number of cases followed by D.C. Witness was about one-third less than a comparable Monday in October.
So was there a general question about how things were supposed to happen during the snow event?
“There was not –just a matter – as in most days – who shows up, virtually, and is ready to proceed – while adding nearly a foot of snow to the mix,” according to court spokesman Doug Buchanan.
D.C. Witness found that some court officials fared better than others in the inclement weather. One veteran defense attorney reported he had no trouble.
“I thought the instructions were pretty clear.I had to come in to cover arraignments in [courtroom] C-10, which is open for business,” said Charles Murdter in response to a D.C. Witness email.
Todd Baldwin who heads the Superior Court Trial Lawyers Association said the court’s performance was overall effective. “There really wasn’t much confusion. Cases were called virtually whenever possible and almost all were continued until another day,” said Baldwin.
Another attorney provided a negative assessment saying he’d received multiple emails from colleagues whose clients couldn’t figure out whether their hearings were postponed or if they were supposed to attend virtually. “There was a huge amount of consternation,” he said.
The lawyer made the point that the court put in an elaborate electronic network during the pandemic for remote proceedings but was still trying to figure out how to use it to full advantage.
While the US Attorneys Office was closed, they continued to work remotely and didn’t report any disruption, according to a spokesperson.