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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- August 11, 2020
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A DC Superior Court judge took a defendant off home confinement and issued a curfew instead.
Dennis Byrd pleaded guilty to attempted assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license on Jan 21. He is currently waiting to be sentenced. On March 23, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was released into home confinement under the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP).
Byrd has received multiple notices of noncompliance with the terms of his pretrial release since being released. During the Aug. 7 hearing, a Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) representative said he has not contacted them since July 22.
Defense attorney Ron Resetarits said his client’s noncompliance with his home confinement is due to medical complications. According to court documents, Byrd was shot 10 times on the day of his offense. Resetarits said his client has been leaving his home in order to get food and medicine, and so he can attend his medical appointments.
Resetarits asked that his client be removed from HISP because of his extenuating medical complications, and placed instead on a curfew so he can take care of his medical matters.
However, the prosecutor said that, while Byrd cannot be stopped from seeing a doctor, his medical issues are not an excuse to lose contact with the PSA. Byrd has not been in contact with the agency for both regular or weekly calls. He also needs special permission to leave his home.
The prosecutor also pointed to the defendant’s history of substance abuse, arguing that, since the PSA is not currently performing drug tests due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there would be no mechanism to ensure Byrd’s compliance in this matter.
The prosecutor said lowering the defendant’s release conditions would be rewarding poor behavior.
Judge Gerald Fisher ultimately decided to alter Byrd’s release conditions.
“I don’t do this as a reward, I’m trying to be practical about this,” Judge Fisher said. “What happens when we’ve got complete home confinement… is we spend a lot of time trying to determine whether something is a violation or a necessity.”
Byrd is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8.
Judge Fisher scheduled a further pretrial show cause hearing for Sept. 1 to determine if Byrd comes into complete compliance.