Judge Rules There’s Probable Cause in Murder Case

By D.C. Witness Staff - November 19, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge ruled that a murder case has enough evidence to go to trial.

Nathaniel Bates, 36, is charged with first-degree murder while armed. He is accused of shooting 28-year-old Eddie Crist on May 8 on the 4000 block of South Capitol Terrace, SW. 

The Nov. 18 proceedings concluded the two-day long preliminary hearing, which began on the Nov. 16. 

During the first day of the hearing, the defense asked for the remaining Jencks material in the case, but the prosecution had not review all the Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage from the officers at the scene, which could possibly include Jencks material.

Judge Neal Kravitz ordered the proceedings to pick back up on the Nov. 18 to give the prosecution time to review all the footage and hand over material to the defense.

During the final day of the proceedings, the prosecution said they reviewed BWC footage from the incident and did not find any to be evidence for the case.

Defense attorney Pierce Suen asked about the identities of two people who sent in tips to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), but the information wasn’t handed over.

The prosecution said a protective order needed to be in place before the material could be shared. 

Due to the withheld information, Suen motioned for the case to be dismissed, arguing that the prosecution did not hand over relevant evidence. 

“Dismissal isn’t necessary, we’re in the middle of a pandemic and there’s a lot of information to review,” said Judge Kravitz. “This isn’t a case where the prosecutor is trying to hide the ball.”

Suen said his client is being accused of this crime because he was merely present at the scene. His GPS device placed him at the scene when the murder happened, according to court documents. 

During cross examination, Suen asked the lead Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective on the case if there was any other evidence that showed that her client committed the crime other than his GPS putting him at the scene.

The detective said “no.” However, he did say that the GPS was consistent with gunfire location technology.

According to the detective, the only other people proven to be there was Crist and one of the witnesses, who has a pending arrest warrant. 

“We have evidence that witness one was involved in an argument with the decedent,” he said. “There’s no evidence that Mr. Bates even interacted with the decedent.”

Suen continued by saying that Bates showed up to the scene because he has a romantic relationship with witness one, who was just involved in a car accident along with the decedent. 

But, the prosecution said Bates denied being at the scene until evidence using GPS tracking was brought forth. The defendant gave a contradictory statement about seeing the person who shot Crist, the prosecutor said.  

“Many people don’t want to talk to detectives because they’re afraid of what will happen to them,” Suen said in response to the contradictory statements. 

Although Judge Kravitz said it was a close call, he found probable cause, citing evidence placing Bates at the scene. 

“The timing here is quite extraordinary if the defendant has nothing to do with it,” said Judge Kravitz. “The shots ring out within a minute of the defendant’s arrival.”

Judge Kravitz decided to continue holding Bates at DC Jail due to his criminal history with firearms coupled with the seriousness of this case.

The judge scheduled Bates’ next hearing for March 9, 2021.