Judge Finds Probable Cause After Domestic Violence Defendant Rejects Plea Deal

By Jay McDonald [former] - March 24, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Domestic Violence | stabbing | Suspects | Victims |

After a domestic violence defendant rejected a plea offer, a DC Superior Court judge ruled that the case against him has enough evidence to go to trial.

The defendant is accused of stabbing his roommate following a verbal altercation on May 30, 2020, in Petworth. He is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. 

During a March 23 hearing, the defendant rejected the prosecution’s offer to plead down to one count of simple assault and one count of attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, both of which are misdemeanor charges.  

With the plea deal turned down, the prosecutor called the lead detective on the case to testify about their investigation.

The detective arrived at the scene and was told the defendant and the victim got into a verbal argument about the rent. This argument reportedly became physical as the two began to wrestle, allegedly prompting the defendant to pull out a five-inch knife and stab the victim in the arm.

“Did anyone live in the apartment with the complainant and the defendant, and did they see the incident?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes, two others do live in the apartment, but they did not see the stabbing,” the detective responded. “They managed to break up the tussle. After the tussle they did see the knife and stab wound.”

The detective said he interviewed the victim over the phone.

“He told me he was walking in the hallway and felt pain in his arm and noticed that the defendant had a knife in hand. That is when he called the police. He did not see the defendant before he jumped out,” the detective said.

Defense attorney Tammy Jacques began her cross-examination by questioning the detectives’ procedures and knowledge of the case.

“Did you watch the bodycam footage of the defendant saying he stabbed the complainant or did you not watch the whole video?” she asked. 

“No, I did not watch the whole video,” the detective responded.

The prosecutor argued there was no proof of the defendant acting in self-defense, alleging the defendant intended to force injury onto the victim.

“Just holding a knife is enough to frighten an assault,” she said.

“The police was called to the apartment and the complainant said that someone just jumped on him,” said Jacques. “I want the court to consider the credibility of the complainant. He did not state that there was a physical altercation before the stabbing. The complainant only has one cut. I know there is no set number of how many cuts you have but we should take that into consideration.”

DC Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nolan did find probable cause in the case. Parties have yet to set a date for the next hearing. The defendant is currently on pretrial release.