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By
Amber Fienagha
- April 9, 2025
Court
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Daily Stories
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stabbing
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Suspects
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DC Superior Court Judge Judith Pipe denied a stabbing defendant’s motion for a new trial on March 25, as an attempt to manipulate the system.
On Sept. 17, 2024, Tanade Warsame, 33, was convicted by a jury of assault with significant bodily injury while armed for his alleged involvement in a stabbing on May 4, 2024 on the 600 block of I street, NW.
On Jan. 28, Warsame, through his new attorney Andrew Ain, motioned for another trial in that he didn’t have adequate representation for the initial proceeding.
Ain and Warsame claimed Warsame’s prior attorney, Brandon Burrell, failed to explain a plea offer extended by prosecutors, didn’t prepare him to testify, nor object when required at trial.
During the hearing, the prosecution played a two-minute segment of a jail call video between Warsame and a pre-sentence report writer as evidence of Warsame’s continued “manipulation’ of the criminal justice system. Warsame expressed his frustration, stating he always participated in trial and believed that Burell was working against him. According to Warsame, he requested Burrell file a motion to dismiss his case or be released, but he failed to do so.
In effect, the prosecution suggested these complaints arose at the eleventh hour before sentencing as a way to disrupt the process.
Ain claimed that the call was not in the context of getting legal advice which the report writer was not competent to provide. However, Ain said that Warsame’s remarks highlight his concerns about the quality and availability of legal guidance he received and his request for a new attorney.
Ain explained that Warsame is unfiltered, makes bad decisions at times, and may have psychological problems irrespective of his new trial request.
The prosecution contended that Warsame was always aware of the plea offer as he constantly rejected it over jail calls.
“He is absolutely manipulating the system here today,” the prosecution insisted.
They say Warsame knows how the criminal justice system’s operations, but acts as though he’s unaware of past convictions.
Warsame’s outburst in a previous hearing, say prosecutors, was a response to his failed tactics, including asking for a new lawyer and rejecting a plea.
“He was never going to take it,” the prosecutor told Judge Pipe.
Judge Pipe agreed with prosecutors that Warsame’s actions were an intentional attempt to manipulate the system and denied his new trial motion.
Parties are slated to reconvene June 6.