In a continuing co-defendant trial before DC Superior Court Judge Michael Ryan on Sept. 22, an eyewitness testified about a homicide at his marijuana pop-up store in Georgetown.
Michael Sanders, 32, and Darnell Resper, 33, are charged with conspiracy, first-degree felony murder while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, attempt to commit robbery while armed, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm. These charges stem from their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Youness Zarouaki, 30, on Feb. 18, 2021 at the 1000 block of Thomas Jefferson Street, NW.
The prosecution called an eyewitness who explained that he had been friends with Zarouaki since 2014. The eyewitness said Zarouaki travelled to Virginia from California to visit him.
The day of Zarouaki’s death, both the eyewitness and Zarouaki travelled together to the witness’ pop-up, in the witness’ silver Mercedes.
According to the witness, the shop, which was run out of a home, often had cash on the living room table and large amounts of stored marijuana. The witness also explained he often wore designer clothing and expensive jewelry.
The witness testified that the pop-up had few customers until a man in a surgical mask arrived and asked if they accepted credit. When the witness said that the shop did not, the masked man said he would go to an ATM and return later.
The witness said the masked man then returned with a black handgun and shouted “give me the weed.” According to the witness, he saw Zarouaki move to give the gunman marijuana, before he heard shots fired, and fled the scene.
The witness, as well as another person in the pop-up, ran out of the house onto M Street, NW where they hid in a nearby shop until the police arrived.
The pop-up shop owner testified that the gunman he saw was short, African American, young, and had short or no hair. The prosecution clarified that the eyewitness only saw the shooter for ten seconds before running out of the shop.
They also played body-worn camera footage of the witness when he was patted down and handcuffed at the scene to be taken to the police station for questioning. The witness also said he believes police officers impounded his car to search for evidence.
The witness said he felt that the officer “treated me like a suspect.”
In the cross-examination, Resper’s attorney, Jason Clark, questioned the witness about his statements to a police officer on scene. In initial questioning, the eyewitness did not disclose the pop-up shop’s existence and denied speaking about being from Virginia.
Clark asked whether the eyewitness initially told officers that he was taking a walk, visiting for a day from Virginia, or if he was headed to a 7-Eleven. The witness did not have a clear answer and said, “I will have to see that.”
In response, Clark played body-worn camera footage from the date of the incident of the eyewitness telling officers that he was visiting a friend and taking a walk to 7-Eleven.
The eyewitness denied Sanders’ attorney, Daniel Kovler’s assertion that he may have omitted information in his account of the shooting. Kovler then asked the witness if he had any pictures of guns on his phone and if that’s the reason he did not want to give his phone to the officer after his arrest.
The jury was shown a video from the witness’ phone from a first person point-of-view that captured a gun. The prosecution presented photos of the eyewitness’ hands compared to the hands in the gun video. The hands in the video clearly did not resemble the hands in the pictures.
The witness said he had no knowledge of the video, but claimed they could have been “accidentally” downloaded from Instagram. Kovler contended that someone would have to click the download button, but the witness reiterated that it could still have been an accident.
The eyewitness testified that he used to own a semi-automatic Draco gun, but at the time of the incident he did not own a firearm. Judge Ryan granted the prosecution’s motion to strike the eyewitness’ mention of his gun.
The prosecution called a forensic analyst with the Metropolitan Police Department’s(MPD) digital evidence unit. The witness explained she examined the pop-up shop owner’s phone.
The analyst witness confirmed that there was an Instagram file downloaded on the owner’s phone which was not created by the owner himself. In Clark’s cross-examination, the witness reported that she cannot find who created the gun video or if it could even be renamed.
Finally, the prosecution asked if the phone extraction was a full or partial extraction, to which the witness replied it was a partial extraction.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Sept. 23.
