Judge Rules Against Admission of Guilt Motion

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During a court proceeding the day before trial, a DC Superior Court judge denied a motion for a defendant to admit guilt because he missed weekly drug screenings. Leonard Smith, 33 is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Leonte Butler, 26, on the 4000 block of South Capitol Street, SE in 2017. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Smith and two other individuals were seen on surveillance footage, covered in blood and changing clothes after the incident. “If we were talking about someone who was in complete compliance all the way up until the murder then, I think you’d have a point, but we’re not,” said Judge Danya Dayson Nov. 12. Judge Dayson said Smith missed check-ins and drug testings sporadically throughout the entire time he was on probation. She also said the prejudice of his non-appearance outweighed the probability that he missed the appointments because he knew the police were looking for him in connection to the homicide. The prosecution said that Smith was in compliance of his probation before the murder. He was not after, the prosecutor said. According to the prosecution, Smith had shown up for 81 percent of his check-ins and drug testing in 2016 while on parole for a 2015 weapons charge. Smith’s defense attorney, Anthony Matthews, said that in order to even consider this motion the judge would have to look at the dates immediately before and after the murder because that is the o.nly way it would be accurate. Jury selection is slated to begin on Nov. 13. Jaylin Hawkins wrote this story.

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