A DC Superior Court judge decided that she would wait to schedule a preliminary hearing because the defendant has not been tested for COVID-19 yet.
The defendant is a 36-year-old man who is charged with assault with the intent to commit first-degree sexual abuse.
He is accused of grabbing a woman’s private parts on the 4500 block of Benning Road, SE on May 29. When the victim refused to have sexual relations with him, he allegedly assaulted her before a witness stopped him
Defense attorney Sylvia Smith said the Department of Corrections (DOC) has not yet given her client a COVID-19 test. Still, she asked that a preliminary hearing begin as soon as possible.
Judge Danya Dayson said the defendant must wait to undergo testing before he could be scheduled for a preliminary hearing because he could still infect people at the jail if the hearing is remote.
She also said she did not have the right to change any “institutional rules.”
