DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ruled that a traffic stop that led to the arrest of a fatal shooting defendant was conducted legally during a motions hearing on Aug. 7
Joshua Franklin, 41, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior crime of violence for his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Andrew Session on Jan. 21, 2021 on the 4400 block of 3rd Street, SE. Session sustained 12 gunshot wounds.
Franklin’s charges all face an aggravating factor of allegedly being committed on his release for a prior offense.
Judge Edelman denied two defense motions to suppress physical evidence and to suppress tangible evidence and statements. The evidence stemmed from a traffic stop in which officers arrested Franklin and seized his cell phone. The defense disputed the legality of the search warrant, traffic stop, and cell phone seizure.
Judge Edelman recounted the testimony of the officers before ruling on the legality of a traffic stop that led to Franklin’s arrest. He said they conducted a traffic stop of a distinctive Monster Energy branded car that they recognized from the Be On the Lookout (BOLO) flyer in connection with a homicide. The BOLO reportedly told officers to stop Franklin, seize his devices, and contact detectives. After stopping Franklin, officers arrested him upon finding that his license was suspended.
According to the testimony of a detective, the BOLO was justified by evidence the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) collected that allegedly connected Franklin to Session’s homicide. There was a reported fight between the two after Session allegedly assaulted Franklin’s daughter and Franklin’s former partner earlier that day. MPD also learned that Session allegedly messaged a relative of his and said Franklin’s daughter told him she planned to call Franklin about the assault.
The judge also highlighted that officers found some evidence linked to Franklin at the crime scene, in addition to messages between Franklin and his daughter. In the messages, Franklin’s daughter told him that Session allegedly reported Franklin and “his people” were at the homicide scene.
The detective testified that they learned Franklin drove a vehicle with a distinctive Monster Energy logo.
Judge Edelman ruled that given “totality” of pieces of information, officers had “reasonable articulable suspicion” for their arrest. The judge cited Franklin’s daughter’s alleged effort to delete cell phone messages. The judge noted that, although officers did not have probable cause to seize Franklin’s phone, they only seized the phone after Franklin advised officers the phone was his and saw him unlock the phone.
In addition, the defense’s motion to exclude the testimony of an FBI agent was partly suppressed,
Judge Edelman said the FBI agent’s testimony, which will explain the use of cell phone location data, should have limitations. Limitations and requirements include explaining assumptions on methodology of location tracking and depiction of the service area of the cell phone.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on Oct. 23 for a trial readiness hearing.
