Parties scheduled an evidentiary hearing for a homicide defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the basis he was “coerced” into taking the agreement in a hearing before DC Superior Court Judge Milton Lee Jr. on April 3.
Darius Murphy, 32, was originally charged with second-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the fatal stabbing of 39-year-old Jason Wood on the 1600 block of Benning Road, NE, on Feb. 22, 2019.
Murphy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed as part of a plea agreement on Sept. 12, 2019. In exchange the parties agreed to a sentencing range of 13-to-22 years in prison.
Murphy was sentenced to 236 months in prison and five years of supervised release on Feb. 14, 2020.
In February 2022, Murphy wrote a letter to the court asking to withdraw his guilty plea. He stated that his previous attorney, Dana Page, told him he would be charged with involuntary manslaughter for taking the plea deal, not second-degree murder while armed. Murphy said in the motion that Page “coerced” him to plead guilty before he was indicted, and that he was under the influence of “heavy mental health medications” when he accepted the agreement.
“I was never read my rights,” said Murphy in the letter.
After Murphy asked for a new attorney to file an ineffective assistance of counsel against Page, Sara Kopecki was appointed as his new attorney on March 25, 2024.
Murphy is currently being held in prison in Illinois, according to Kopecki.
Parties scheduled a hearing to address Murphy’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea based on ineffectivecounsel for Dec. 17.
