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By
Jenna Lee [former]
- December 4, 2024
Court
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Daily Stories
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Non-Fatal Shooting
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Shooting
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DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan denied a motion to suppress photographic evidence in a shooting case on Dec. 3.
Ronnell Offutt, 35, is charged with four counts of assault with intention to kill while armed, six counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, assault with intent to kill while armed against a minor, and aggravated assault knowingly while armed for his alleged involvement in a mass shooting that injured multiple people at a bus stop on the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, on Feb. 4, 2019. Five individuals, including a five-year-old girl, were injured.
During the proceeding, defense attorney Donna Beasley said photos taken by a nearby witness that allegedly show the victim during the shooting should be suppressed because the prosecution was ordered to preserve so-called metadata of the photos, but lost the defining structure of the information in email correspondence.
Beasley said the inability of the defense to use the metadata of the photos to see if they were altered and check the date and time stamps unfairly prejudices the defense.
Prosecutors argued that they did not lose the metadata by error but it happened through the “chain of custody” as the photos were emailed back and forth among previous attorneys on the case. Prosecutors argued the defense will be able to cross examine the witness who took the photos during trial about the metadata.
Judge Raffinan ruled that while the prosecutors had been negligent in losing the evidence, the photos could still be used in trial as long as the jury was instructed about the missing metadata.
Parties are set to reconvene on Feb. 28.