Defendant Needs to Comply with Referral, Judge Says

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 22, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

On July 22, a DC Superior Court judge ordered a defendant to comply with the Pretrial Services Agency’s (PSA) mental health referral. 

Buda Mulla is charged with kidnapping for allegedly trying to run off with a toddler on July 8. He was released the next day and placed on a GPS tracking device.

The day after his release, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers found Mulla having what appeared to be a mental health episode on a street corner in Washington, DC, according to court documents.  

Mulla received a notice of non compliance on July 20 for failure to report with the PSA. However, a PSA representative said the defendant has been compliant since then.

Defense attorney Bernadette Armand said he was unable to comply with the release conditions until his release on July 16. 

Mulla is accused of grabbing a three-year-old child and running away until the parents tackled him on the 200 block of 15th Street, NW.

When a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer asked Mulla why he grabbed the child, he said, “I wanted to pull the kids into the kingdom of Heaven.”

Judge Danya Dayson scheduled a hearing for Aug. 14 to assess Mulla’s compliance with pretrial release conditions.