Judge Changes Defendant’s Release Conditions

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 8, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

A DC Superior Court judge modified a defendant’s release conditions July 8 after reasserting another judge’s finding of probable cause. 

A 61-year-old defendant was charged with second-degree child sex abuse on June 19. Judge Sean Staples initially found probable cause on June 19, allowing the defendant to be released under the High Intensity Supervision Program (HISP) into 24-hour home confinement.

Judge Neal Kravitz changed the defendant’s release conditions from home confinement to community supervision with a 10 p.m. curfew.

The change was initiated because defense attorney, Joseph Yarbough, filed a motion stating that his client’s initial court document did not state his age nor the age of the victim. The prosecution then submitted a supplemental document that had the correct ages.

Since the ages of defendants and victims are crucial to child sex abuse cases, Judge Kravitz was able to reverse Judge Staples’ finding of probable cause. However, after examining the supplemental reports, Judge Kravitz determined that there were still grounds for probable cause on July 8.

After Judge Kravitz rediscovered probable cause, the prosecution and defense discussed lifting the defendant’s release conditions per the defense’s request. All parties were in agreement that the conditions should be loosened.

Judge Kravitz also modified the defendant’s stay away order since the victim moved to a new address.

He was originally ordered to stay away from the victim and place of incident, which was the victim’s temporary home. With the prosecution’s consent, Judge Kravitz changed the stay away order to require that the defendant stay away from the victim and her new place of residence.

The defendant will appear in court again on Sept. 21 to evaluate the status of his case.