Grand Jury Increases Murder Defendant’s Charge

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 1, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

A grand jury in a homicide case indicted a murder defendant on greater charges than the ones the prosecution had originally sought.

Joseph Smith is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing his 62-year-old brother, Arnold Smith,  on April 9 on the 600 block of Galveston Place, SE. Joseph was originally charged with voluntary manslaughter while armed.

During a status hearing June 28, Joseph’s defense attorney, Jacqueline Cadman, waived the formal reading of the indictment and announced that the defendant pleaded not-guilty.

Despite the increase to the charge, Joseph, 61, is still placed in a halfway house, according to DC Courts. DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson released Smith to the halfway house because of his undisclosed health problems on April 25.

Joseph told Judge Dayson the stabbing occurred in self-defense after his brother attacked him in the living room of their family home. However, initial evidence from the crime scene and inconsistencies in Smith’s testimony led Judge Dayson to find probable cause in the case.

Apparently, several witnesses also said the defendant made multiple threats against the victim.

Even so, the prosecutor told Judge Dayson that he would not use the testimonies during trial.

Smith is scheduled for a motions hearing and a status hearing on Aug. 23.