DC Superior Court Judge Dorsey Jones found probable cause on June 25 against a shooting defendant accused of returning to the scene of a brawl with a gun and firing at a crowd.
Ervon Clyburn, 34, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his alleged involvement in a June 21 shooting on the 1500 block of F Street, NE. No injuries were reported.
Prosecutors relied on the testimony of a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer who witnessed the incident live via surveillance footage.
In the video the prosecution presented to the court, a man in a black shirt with a large decal on the back can be seen leaving a scuffle between several adults next to a playground. When he returned into frame, he fired a single shot in the direction of the crowd, which immediately dispersed, except for the complaining witness, who hid behind a sedan and fired back. The officer testified that the man in black was identified as Clyburn.
The officer testified that he received a photograph of Clyburn via Microsoft Teams after police arrested him roughly 40 minutes later, and used the photograph to identify him as the alleged shooter. Police found car keys in Clyburn’s pocket, which opened a Lexus reportedly containing a handgun in the center console.
Clyburn’s attorney, James Brockway, questioned the strength of the officer’s identification of Clyburn, since the man in the video was wearing a shirt with a white decal on the back, but in the photograph of Clyburn during his arrest, the decal is multicolored with red lettering.
Brockway also showed the court an alternate angle of the incident, where another man repeatedly hit and grabbed the man prosecutors say is Clyburn, even as he continued to back away. This, Brockway argued, was grounds for a self-defense claim.
Judge Jones ruled that because the man in the black shirt in the video left the scene safely and returned with a gun, he cannot claim self-defense. Additionally, Judge Jones said he was convinced by the size and shape of the decal on the back of Clyburn’s shirt that he could plausibly be the man wearing black in the surveillance video.
Judge Jones ordered Clyburn remain detained due to the nature and circumstances of the crime, despite letters from Clyburn’s mother and girlfriend vouching for his character.
Parties are set to reconvene on July 6.
