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Laura Berol
, Lily Engel - July 1, 2024
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Defense attorney Madalyn Harvey asked DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan to delay Antoine Turner‘s trial so Harvey can review thousands of videos and tens of thousands of pages of evidence at a hearing on July 1.
Turner, 30, is charged with first-degree murder while armed with aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior conviction greater than one year, and carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the shooting deaths of Demetrius Benson,34, on Nov. 3, 2020, on the 3900 block of Minnesota Avenue, NE, and Demeitri Anderson,23, on Nov. 29, 2020, on the 4500 block of Benning Road, SE.
Harvey told Judge Raffinan that the defense recently received two phone extraction files from the prosecution, one containing more than 13,000 pages and the other more than 31,000 pages.
According to the prosecution, the phones were seized when Turner was arrested on Dec. 3, 2020. At the time, the technology to unlock phones did not exist. The prosecution was only able to retrieve the phone data this June.
Additionally, Turner’s previous defense attorney received over 3,000 Ring camera video clips from the prosecution. The new defense team claimed that they never received those videos.
Harvey said the defense cannot be ready for the Oct. 21 trial date because of the need to review this information.
The prosecutor asked to keep the current trial date and offered to help the defense process the evidence.
Judge Raffinan instructed the defense team to accept the prosecutor’s assistance. If they still feel they need more time, they can file a motion for continuance by Aug. 9.
Additionally, Judge Raffinan asked the prosecutor to come up with a more detailed timeline for the trial, which she estimates will last four weeks.
The parties are set to reconvene on Aug. 30.
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