Defendant Threatened With Jail Time For Violating Release Conditions

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DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park admonished a murder defendant for violating his release conditions during a hearing on June 17.

Josiah Garrison, 26, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, 25-year-old Taeje Butler, on April 9 on the 3500 block of 6th Street, SE.

According to court documents, the incident stemmed from Butler allegedly accusing Garrison of infidelity.

During the hearing, the judge alerted the parties that a representative from the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) had reported that Garrison, who has been in home confinement since April 29, had failed to comply with his release conditions.

Garrison is currently detained in 24 hour home confinement and violated the order by leaving his home for “five minutes”. The PSA officer managing Garrison’s case stated that he has had a few instances of non-compliance in the past, but has been in good compliance aside from these incidents.

Judge Park told Garrison that in this particular case he must be perfectly compliant or “any violation puts me in a situation to lock you up.”

The next hearing is slated to occur on July 25.