Judge pushes jury selection back in murder trial

By D.C. Witness Staff - February 5, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

Judge Danya Dayson pushed jury selection to Feb. 6 for the trial of a man accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Ray Andre Harrison.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Davon Peyton shot Harrison in the chest on the 1300 block of Adams Street, NE on Nov. 13, 2015. Peyton was charged with second-degree murder while armed. The trial officially started on Feb. 5.

Assistant United States Attorneys Katie Earnest and Jennifer Fischer announced they would be introducing evidence that Peyton, 27, was in possession of a gun illegally at the time of the homicide. The prosecution said they planned on using testimony from a former girlfriend to prove that Peyton possessed a gun illegally since June of 2015. The prosecution also said they planned on using an incident in 2009 where the ex-girlfriend accused Peyton of assaulting her with a gun.

Unaware of the fact that the prosecution planned to use the ex-girlfriend’s testimony in their argument, Matthew Davies and Joseph Wong, Peyton’s defense team, asked Judge Dayson to either not allow the testimony or grant them extra time to present a rebuttal.

Judge Dayson gave the defense team one more day to prepare a response to the girlfriend’s testimony. Judge Dayson also ruled that the 2009 incident with the girlfriend could not be addressed because the case is old.