In Rejecting Plea, Counsel Debates Homicide Defendant's Mental State at Trial

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Dominique Winters, the defense attorney for Christian Johnson, told DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz on March 14 that her client had rejected a plea deal offered by the prosecution and plans to file for dismissal on based on the prosecutor’s conduct.

Johnson, 34, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict. The charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Lavonte McCould on Nov. 25, 2021, on the 1600 block of Kenilworth Avenue, NE.

Winters said the prosecution offered Johnson an agreement to plead guilty to second-degree murder while armed. In return, the prosecution would dismiss all other charges in the case and request a sentence of no more than 20-to-25 years in prison.

To support Johnson’s self-defense claim at trial, Winters plans to have a doctor testify about the effects of PTSD, violence and trauma on people’s perceptions of danger.

The prosecution filed a motion to preclude the testimony on the grounds that it isn’t relevant because Johnson hasn’t been examined by the doctor or diagnosed with a trauma disorder.

The prosecution also argued the testimony supports a claim that the defendant suffered from diminished capacity, or mental impairment, which isn’t permitted defense in the DC jurisdiction.

Winters told Judge Kravitz that the case Lalchan v. United States offers precedent for her use of the doctor’s testimony. In Lalchan, a doctor testified about battered woman syndrome without having examined the defendant, who had killed her abusive partner.

The prosecutor argued the Lalchan precedent isn’t applicable to Johnson’s case because Lalchan experienced violence from the person she killed, but any violence Johnson experienced came from someone other than McCloud.

Winters also cited a case in which an appeals court ruled that claiming the defendant suffered from trauma is not a claim that the defendant suffered diminished capacity. Instead, the court found, it’s an argument that self-defense was reasonable to the defendant under the circumstances.

The prosecution objected that Winters hadn’t shown a connection between the doctor’s testimony and her client. Winters said she will, but she doesn’t want to reveal her self-defense strategy to the prosecution in advance.

Judge Kravitz said he would leave the prosecution’s motion to exclude the doctor’s testimony pending until the trial. Winters will be allowed to make a self-defense claim in her opening statement, but failing to support the claim during the trial could have consequences. The judge might not instruct the jury to consider the possibility that Johnson acted in self-defense, and the prosecution might be allowed to comment on her failure during closing arguments.

Winters told the court she plans to file a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the prosecution failed to share evidence with the defense. Winters said the charging documents stated Johnson belongs to a criminal organization known as the Kenilworth crew, but the documents supporting that statement have been destroyed.

The prosecutor said the documents were deleted in compliance with a federal regulation requiring the destruction of documents after a certain length of time.

The next hearing in this case is set for March 28.

In Rejecting Plea, Counsel Debates Homicide Defendant’s Mental State at Trial