Defense Motions to Sever Charges in Homicide Case

By Mia Febles , Audrey Staudacher - February 26, 2024
Court | Homicides | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

On Feb. 26, a motion to sever certain charges in a homicide case was discussed in the courtroom of DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan. 

James Lewis, 46, is charged with kidnapping while armed, felony murder while armed, first-degree sexual abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon, and three counts of felony contempt, for his alleged involvement in the fatal-stabbing of 30-year-old Brenea Franklin. The incident occurred on the 1100 block of Bellevue Street, SE, on Jan. 31, 2021. 

In the hearing, Lewis’ attorneys, Mani Golzari and Prescott Loveland, requested that Lewis’ contempt charges be dismissed. 

The prosecution opposed this, claiming that Lewis violated his stay away order by allegedly calling a witness while being held at DC Jail. The calls went unanswered by the witness in question, but the call was traced to Lewis’ unique pin number.

Golzari argued that there is no clear evidence that proves Lewis was the one who made the phone call, and even if he did, Lewis was unaware that there was a stay away order in the first place. 

When the prosecution was able to prove that Lewis was present in the courtroom when the stay away order was placed, Glozari argued that Lewis had “cognitive limitations” that impacted his understanding of the stay away order.

Further, Golzari argued that the first-degree sexual assault charge and any associated charges should be severed from the homicide charges.

He explained that the sexual assault charge referred to an incident that took place months before Franklin’s homicide. The victim of this alleged assault came forward only after another witness reported it to the police in connection to the murder. 

For this reason, Golzari claimed that the victim of the alleged sexual assault was not credible. He cited other instances where the victim allegedly made “false allegations” to the police in relation to claims of sexual assault. He argued that these allegations could be the result of a mental health crisis.

The prosecution opposed these claims, stating that someone experiencing a mental health crisis did not make them discreditable, and there were many reasons a sexual assault victim would give varying accounts of their assault and not want to report it to the police. 

Golzari disagreed, and pointed to grand jury testimony where the victim testified that they had never been assaulted prior to Lewis’ alleged sexual assault. 

After both parties concluded their arguments, Judge Raffinan informed the court she would make a ruling on the motions from chambers. 

All parties are slated to return April 26.