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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- June 9, 2020
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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Victims
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A defendant, who had already been denied release twice before, was granted release under high intensity supervision program (HISP) on June 9.
Andre Dubose is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ahmad Simms, a 37-year-old resident of Southeast, DC. He is accused of allegedly using a wooden object to kill Simms.
As part of his release conditions, Dubose will live with his mother under 24-hour home confinement.
Dubose has been held in jail pending a grand jury trial since July 17 of last year. Joseph Wong, the defendant’s defense attorney, also raised concerns over Dubose’s stage two hypertension and the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though a family member of Simms argued against Dubose’s release, expressing discontent with the judge factoring in health circumstances when considering if they should release him.
Judge Neal Kravitz said that it is appropriate to consider health issues. He said the larger factors in his decision to release Dubose was the length of time the defendant had been held in jail while awaiting trial along with the limited evidence in the case.
DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman denied Dubose’s emergency motion for release due to the COVID-19 pandemic on April 27. On May 8, DC Superior Court Judge Judge Kravitz denied his renewed motion for release.