Judge Allows Prosecution to Retest Condom

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 28, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

During a felony status hearing on June 26, defense counsel submitted a motion to halt further testing on DNA samples previously tested by the prosecution.

Jackie Berry, 29, is accused of stabbing 38-year-old Michael Geoffrey McKoy, a known gay man from the Anacostia neighborhood, on the 1600 block of V Street, SE in 2010. According to the Washington Blade, McKoy was the fourth gay man to be murdered in the area in 2010.

Police located Berry in 2017 through a criminal database after matching his DNA to a condom found on the crime scene. At the time, Berry was incarcerated in New York for an unrelated crime.

Emily Stirba, Berry’s defense attorney, said there were three reasons why the prosecution shouldn’t be granted permission to retest a condom found at the crime scene.

Stirba said the prosecution already tested the sample in 2011. She also said the lab wasted DNA by testing 16 microliters of the original 23, leaving only nine for the defense to possibly test, independently. Finally, Stirba said the nine remaining microliters would not be sufficient to find a DNA profile.

However, the prosecution said there was more than enough DNA for both parties to test. “We have new technology that wasn’t available back in 2011,” the prosecution said, claiming that only a few drops were needed.

DC Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna sided with the prosecution and ruled in favor of additional testing of the contraception.

“I see no ill faith nor negligence in the prosecution’s want for testing,” Judge McKenna said. “There’s plenty of extract left for both sides to test.”

Judge McKenna has allocated three months in order for both parties to conduct their DNA tests. A status hearing is scheduled on Oct. 12.