Defense attorneys opposed the use of a prosecutor’s expert witness on strangulation, requesting the analyst testify in a separate hearing before trial in a March 27 hearing.
Juan Guerra, 32, is charged with second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in the fatal beating of Peter Miller III, 32, on the 900 block of Maine Avenue, SW, on Oct. 6, 2021. Miller succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 11, 2021.
Prosecutors were planning on calling a “crime scene recreator” as their expert witness for trial.
However, Guerra’s defense attorneys Kevin Mosley and Diana Yu intend to challenge the prosecution’s expert witness because he “doesn’t use scientifics” in his expertise.
Mosley and Yu are opposing him in areas of supposed expertise in because his testimony will be “more prejudicial than probative.”
The defense’s request is said to ensure the expert witness’s testimony is reliable and relevant.
The prosecutor said he believed their witness should be deemed more of a “strangulation expert” rather than a “crime scene recreator.”The prosecutor told DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz that the prosecution will oppose the defense’s challenge.
Judge Kravitz suggested they set another date to get things figured out before trial.
Parties are slated to reconvene on April 23.
