Judges Hold Nearly 20% of Defendants During Initial Hearings in 2nd Half of September

By D.C. Witness Staff - October 7, 2020
Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

During the second half of September, DC Superior Court judges presided over 325 defendants during initial hearings.

Of all the cases, judges released 259 defendants and held 66 defendants in DC Jail or in the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services’ (DYRS) custody.

There were 68 felonies, 109 misdemeanors, 10 traffic offenses, 73 domestic violence cases, 45 fugitive cases, and 28 bench warrant cases.

Judges mentioned 36 instances of either pretrial, parole or probation violations, which included failure to appear at hearings, loss of contact, GPS monitor tampering, Civil Protective Order (CPO) or a Temporary Protective Order (TPO) violations and stay-away order violations.

There were a total of 73 defendants charged in domestic violence cases. Of those cases, nine defendants were held in DC jail and 64 were released.

The charges of the held domestic violence defendants included violation of a CPO or TPO, simple assault, contempt, unlawful entry, threats to do bodily harm, destruction of property, extortion and impersonating a police officer.

Of the 64 domestic violence defendants released, 55 were given stay-away orders and nine were given no harassing, assaulting, threatening or stalking (HATS) orders toward the alleged victims.

Nine domestic violence defendants, five who were held and four who were released, were brought in on charges for violating conditions of their release.

Five domestic violence defendants violated stay-away orders by re-visiting the same victim from a prior case.

Of the three judges who presided over presentments in the last 15 days of September, Judge Juliet McKenna held the greatest percentage of defendants. She held almost 27 percent of the cases she heard, holding 18 and releasing 49.

Judge James Crowell and Judge Heide Herrmann both held almost 19 percent of the defendants they spoke with. Judge Crowell held 29 defendants and released 127. Judge Herrmann held 19 and released 83 defendants.