Judge Grants Prosecutor’s Motion to Reopen a Previous Hearing

By Natalie Goodman [former] - August 30, 2022
Court | Daily Stories | Sex Abuse | Sexual Assault | Suspects | Victims |

During an Aug. 30 hearing, DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt accepted the prosecution’s motion to reopen a previous hearing, which included an email from a series of emails between the victim and a detective.

On April 26, 2016, the defendant was indicted on three counts of first-degree child sexual assault of his step-daughter between 1999 and 2001. The victim was 13-years-old when the assaults began. 

Defense attorney Sylvia Smith objected to the inclusion of the email since it had not been introduced earlier.

She also called for the suppression of illegal recordings obtained without the defendant’s consent, including a video recording of the defendant’s interrogation at a police station. She said several detectives were harassing the defendant, cursing at him, and calling him names such as “pedophile.”

Smith also said the defendant’s Miranda rights were violated.

During the previous hearing, two of the three emails in the series were thrown out due to their irrelevance of the case.

Judge Brandt said she plans to give a ruling on the admissibility of the prosecution’s evidence by the end of the week. The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29.