DC Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson denied a murder defendant’s motion to dismiss his case on Oct. 24.
Jamil Whitley, 36, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a dangerous weapon outside home or business, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convict for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of 32-year-old Kevin Redd on June 11, 2020, on the 4000 block of Jay Street, NE.
According to court records, Madalyn Harvey, Whitley’s defense attorney, motioned to dismiss based on evidence from the interview of the victim’s wife, who is also now deceased.
Harvey said that this witness would have helped Whitley’s case, as she could have testified that Redd was selling marijuana around the time of his murder.
Harvey also argued that the wife would have been able to help them locate witnesses, such as Whitley’s co-worker, with whom he allegedly clashed. She said the prosecution failed to turn over that evidence before her death.
The prosecution argued that the statements from the wife’s interview were conjecture and would not have necessarily helped Whitley’s case.
Judge Dayson denied Harvey’s motion, saying that Harvey can still locate and talk to other potential witnesses, even though Redd’s wife is deceased.
Judge Dayson also granted the prosecution’s motion to reconsider a previous ruling about data from a photograph.
According to a ruling, prosecutors violated Whitley’s right to evidence when it did not turn over data from the victim’s phone.
Per Rule 16, a defendant is entitled access to document evidence such as photographs from the prosecution when the evidence is material. In other words, the evidence must have significance to creating a defense.
Prosecutors argued that Harvey did not prove the data from Redd’s phone was significant enough and that the court made a mistake when they ruled that they violated Rule 16 by not providing the source of a photo.
Judge Dayson also told parties that the identification of Whitley by a witness would have to be argued during the March trial, not through pretrial motions.
Parties are set to reconvene on Jan. 13.
