Judge Holds First-Degree Murder Defendant During Initial Hearings

By D.C. Witness Staff - March 5, 2021
Featured | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

During initial hearings on March 4, DC Superior Court Judge Heide Herrmann held a defendant charged with first-degree murder.

In all, there were 26 cases presented before the court. Five of these cases involved domestic violence, sex abuse or murder.

John Woods is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the killing of 60-year-old Geno Freeman on Feb. 19. Woods, 66, allegedly shot Freeman twice with a shotgun on the 6000 block of Chillum Place, NE.

Woods’ attorney, John Yarbough, asked the judge to not find probable cause for first-degree murder because there is evidence of mitigating circumstance in this case. According to Yarbough, Woods believed he had been poisoned by Freeman several years prior by antifreeze in a drink he was drinking. 

Subsequently, Woods was diagnosed with kidney failure in October 2020, which the defendant also believes to be from the poisoning. He said Woods had gone to Freeman to confront him about the poison and did not plan on killing the decedent.

Given these circumstances, Yarbough said there are mitigating circumstances and that the judge should not find probable cause for first-degree murder but could only find probable cause for voluntary manslaughter.

Judge Herrmann did find probable cause in this case, saying said she found substantial probability that Woods committed first-degree murder. She said there is substantial evidence in this case, and that Woods himself allegedly admitted to the police that he thought of killing Freeman weeks prior to the incident.

Yarbough asked for Woods’ release, stating that his many underlying health conditions, including suffering from multiple gunshot wounds by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer, and his age put him in a very high risk category if he were to get Covid-19, which “is spreading throughout the DOC [Department of Corrections] as we speak.”

Judge Herrmann said she could not ensure the safety of the community, so the defendant will be held at the jail, pending his next hearing scheduled for March 24.

The judge also held a defendant who is charged with third-degree sexual abuse. The defendant allegedly tried to force a woman into the back of a truck, tried to pull her pants down and put his mouth on her breasts on May 29, 2020, on the unit block of K Street, NE.

Defense counsel asked the judge to not find probable cause, saying the alleged victim was shown only one photo to ID the defendant, which, he argued, is highly suggestive. He also said that the complainant said she had seen the defendant 12 or 13 times between May and December of 2020, but she never called the police. 

Judge Herrmann did find probable cause in this case, and she decided to hold the defendant because of his assaultive history as well as his two pending cases in DC. The defendant’s next hearing is scheduled for March 24.

The judge released three defendants with charges that include simple assault, assault on  a police officer, sex abuse and unlawful entry. Two of the defendants were given stay-away orders, and one was given an order not to harass, assault, threaten or stalk (HATS) the victim.

The released defendants will return to court on Aug. 5.