Defendant Receives New Attorney For 4th Time In Murder Case

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On April 18, DC Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein granted a defense attorney’s motion to withdraw as counsel for a murder defendant, appointing a new attorney for the fourth time.

Alton Rivers, 58, is charged with second-degree murder while armed as a senior citizen for allegedly stabbing Anthony Anderson, 68, to death with a screwdriver on the 3600 block of 14th Street, NW on July 27, 2018.

During Tuesday’s court proceedings defense counsel Betty Ballester requested to withdraw as defense counsel. Her request was granted by Judge Epstein.

He appointed Stephen Logerfo as River’s new counsel.

Rivers’ case has been held before three different judges since 2018.

Judge Epstein informed Rivers that his case has been in between judges due to routine judge rotations.

According to court documents Rivers and Anderson were observed by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer fighting. After ordering them to stop fighting, the officer stated Anderson fell on the floor while blood came out of his mouth.

The MPD officer then ordered Rivers to drop the screwdriver he had in his hand multiple times before he finally did, the document stated.

According to a witness Rivers and Andreson were swinging at each other. Witnesses stated that Anderson punched Rivers, knocking him to the ground. After being knocked down, Rivers got up and pulled out what the witness believed was a knife and began to repeatedly swing towards Anderson, stabbing him in the chest or abdomen area, documents stated.

Rivers told MPD that Anderson initiated the confrontation, began jumping around, and put his hands behind his back. He said he believed Anderson was reaching for a weapon, so he pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and stabbed Anderson once, documents stated.

A status hearing was scheduled for May 12 to allow Logerfo to go over all information regarding the case.

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