Judge Continues Murder Hearing, Defense Requests Evidence

Thank you for reading D.C. Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

A DC Superior Court judge scheduled a Nov. 9 murder hearing to pick back up tomorrow in order to finish the cross-examination and revisit evidence.

Kyree Fields, 20, is charged with the first-degree murder of Keith Rawlings on July 26. The incident occurred on the 800 block of Chesapeake Street SE.

Rawlings was pronounced dead at the scene after being struck by a bullet allegedly fired from a passing vehicle while he was driving. Rawlings then crashed his vehicle into a nearby building.

Today marked the start of the preliminary hearing, which will ultimately determine if the prosecution has enough evidence to go to trial.

Parties ran into a disagreement when defense attorney Kevann Gardner said he wants access to the Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage from the crime scene in order to gain information about the lead Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective’s representations at the crime scene.

Gardner argued that the prosecution is obligated to turn over this material because of the Jenks Act, which requires prosecutors to provide the defense with evidentiary material relating to witness statements upon the defense’s request.

“We’re in this [valley] of speculation where we don’t know whether there is Jencks,” said Gardner.

The prosecutor, however, argued that the Jenks Act did not apply to the BWC, because nothing the detective said at the crime scene qualified as witness statements. She said the detective only asked questions and was primarily the receiver of information.

Judge Neal Kravitz called for a recess that lasted about three and a half hours in order to give the prosecutor time to reevaluate the BWC footage that included the witness in the frame.

Upon returning from the recess, the prosecutor highlighted four instances in which the detective was featured in the BWC footage; however, according to the prosecutor, none of those instances were substantive enough to qualify as Jencks material.

The prosecutor said she would review all audio from the BWC ahead of tomorrow’s hearing. She said she will also check to see if MPD footage picked up audio of the witness when he is not in the frame.

Maria Marzullo wrote this article.

Follow this case