Defense Requests Transfer of Defendant to New Detention Facility

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For months, defense attorneys for a second-degree murder defendant have been requesting he be moved to a detention facility closer to Washington, DC.

Derryck Decuir, 30, is charged with second-degree murder while armed against a minor and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction for his alleged involvement in the shooting of 15-year-old Malek Mercer. The incident occurred on the 2800 block of 28th Street, SE on June 16, 2015.

Decuir had been found guilty of the charges, but the District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed that conviction in November 2022. The reversal of the conviction was due to erroneous admission of witness testimony in an earlier trial.

Decuir is currently being held by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va. The detention facility is more than 2 hours away from DC.

His defense attorneys have filed various motions to have him transferred to a facility that is within 15 miles of DC, but their efforts were shut down by DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan. Judge Raffinan said the denial of the motions is due to her having no jurisdiction over the BOP and their placement of defendants awaiting trial.

Defense attorneys state that their ability to advise Decuir is very limited due to his location. They argue that they have had to pay for legal calls to be able to meet with Decuir, and those calls have been recorded.

They also argue that these calls are breaching his right to confidentiality, and they are hoping the issue will be resolved.

Their motion to have a U.S. Marshal representative present in a hearing to discuss the placement of Decuir will be held by Judge Raffinan at the next hearing to allow her time to have discussions with the presiding judge.

Parties are expected back to discuss the issue on May 11.

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