DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz ordered another mental assessment for a homicide defendant after the defense challenged his competency in an April 3 hearing.
Dayshawn Nolan, 24, is charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in an arson that killed Antoinette Davis at the 400 block of Condon Terrace, SE on July 3, 2022. Davis succumbed to her injuries and died on July 17, 2022.
Nolan’s attorney, Christen Philips, requested a contested competency hearing to refute the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH)’s assessment that declared Nolan to be competent to stand trial Nov. 21, 2025. Philips told Judge Kravitz that the Public Defender Service (PDS) had a third party expert assess Nolan and deemed him incompetent to stand trial.
To stand trial, Nolan must understand the charges against him and be able to assist his attorney in his defense.
“Competency is fluid,” Philips said. “There was about eight months of [Nolan] not being competent.”
The prosecution argued the defense is using competency “almost as a weapon,” possibly pushing back the trial date by continuous competency checks.
Additionally, the prosecution claimed requests sent to Nolan to move the case forward were “widely unanswered.”. The purpose of the present hearing, the prosecution told Judge Kravitz, was to resolve the case in “good faith” effort. “This can’t happen when emails are being ignored,” the prosecution said.
“I appreciate your frustrations,” Judge Kravitz said but “I encourage you to be more thorough. I would discourage you from assuming the worst, people are busy.”
Judge Kravitz ordered another full mental competency assessment from DBH to be done at the DC Jail. According to the judge, DBH was supposed to check Nolan’s competency weekly, however, the defense claimed the check-ins were not occurring. Judge Kravitz agreed to reach out to DBH about the situation.
Parties are slated to reconvene on May 1.
