DC Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nolan found probable cause that a defendant was the perpetrator in a carjacking incident during a hearing on July 14.
Antwon Brown, 33, is charged with unarmed carjacking for his alleged involvement in the incident that occurred at the 1400 block of 22nd Street, NE on July 20, 2023.
According to court documents, Brown allegedly approached the complainant at the loading dock of a storage facility. Brown allegedly offered his assistance before snatching the complainant’s car keys from around her neck and stealing her car nearby. The stolen car was spotted by the police later that day. The car crashed while the suspect was attempting to flee, and although two suspects were arrested from the vehicle, Brown allegedly escaped on foot.
The prosecution called the lead Metropolitan Police Detective (MPD) assigned to Brown’s case as a witness. The detective testified that, over the course of his investigation, he identified a suspect with the same unique police identification number as Antwon Brown.
During cross-examination, Brown’s defense attorney, Quiana Harris, argued that MPD violated proper identification procedure. It is standard MPD procedure for an officer to conduct identification interviews separately, so that one witness does not influence the other’s claim, insisted Harris.
However, the detective testified that both the witness and the complainant were present when the photo of Brown was shown. The witness was shown Brown’s photo first, and proceeded to exclaim, “That’s him, that’s him!” The complainant then requested to view the photo and only then alletedly confirmed Brown’s identity.
Harris criticized the fact that the detective based his initial identification of Brown not on surveillance video, but on body-worn camera footage of Browns’ arrest, which the detective then compared to a photo from a police database. Harris argued that this was not a credible identification.
The detective additionally testified that the victims reported there were no tattoos or scars on the suspect’s body. Harris had Brown stand before the court to present the tattoos which cover his left hand, as well as the long scar running along his lower left arm.
Harris argued for Brown to be released to an all-male sober house with 24-hour confinement and GPS monitoring. The prosecution argued that Brown should continue to be held due to the threat he poses to the community.
While Judge Nolan stated that the court did not credit the detective’s identification of Brown, he ultimately determined that the witnesses’ identifications were enough to find probable cause, despite the breach in procedure.
Judge Nolan granted Brown 24-hour supervised release, conditional upon the sober house being capable of providing 24-hour GPS monitoring.
If this condition cannot be met, Brown will be returned to custody.
Parties are set to reconvene on Aug. 15.
