Judges Issue 59 Bench Warrants Between June and September

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 14, 2020
Court | Featured | Homicides | Infographics |

DC Superior Court judges issued 59 bench warrants for felony charges from June 1 to Sept. 30.  

According to Cornell Law, a bench warrant is given out by a judge after a defendant violates the rules of court. Most times, a bench warrant is issued when a defendant fails to show at their hearings.

The 59 defendants who received warrants were charged with drug-related offenses (15) and weapon possession (16).

From June to the end of September, the number of bench warrants issued by judges increased from month-to-month. The number of bench warrants issued in September more than tripled the amount in June.  

When examining the defendant’s prior felony convictions, the most common prior conviction was for weapon possession charges. Of the 59 defendants, 14 of them have been convicted of felonies in the past. 

Bench Warrant Charges

Weapon possession is the most common charge for the bench warrants during this time period. The charges include carrying a pistol without a license, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of an unregistered firearm.  

The defendants with weapon possession charges include Ricardo Blakeney, Kelonii Malloy, Donovan Logan, Joseph Grandy, Michael West, Mark Odoms, DeAndre Smith, Carlo General, Alaunte Scott, Deare Benny, Bernard Eddy, Ricky Dyson and Clifton Smith. 

Of these defendants, only Clifton, 54, has a prior felony conviction. He was convicted for armed robbery and prisoner escape in two different cases. 

General, 20, has no prior felony convictions but is currently charged with second-degree murder while armed in the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Davon McNeal on the 1400 block of Cedar Street, SE on July 4. 

On Oct. 2, probable cause was found during a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial. General’s co-defendants in the case are 23-year-old Christen Wingfield, Marcel Gordon, 25, and Daryle Bond, 19. General is currently being held at the DC Jail. 

Grandy, 35, Scott, 19, and Dyson, 40 are all currently on probation while the others are on pretrial release, with the exception of Logan, 23. 

Logan had his probation revoked and was resentenced to 18 months and 135 days in prison for two separate cases on Oct. 30. 

Four of the other defendants, who received bench warrants, are scheduled for status hearings. 

Twenty-three year old Blakeney’s court date is scheduled for Feb. 9, 2021; DeAndre, 22, is scheduled for April 14, 2021; General’s is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2021; and Clifton is scheduled for Dec. 18.

Three of the defendants, Malloy, 23, West, 23, and Dyson, have show cause hearings scheduled on Jan. 5, 2021; Jan. 25, 2021; and Dec. 22, respectively. 

Four of the defendants are still on bench warrant status, including Odoms, Scott, Benny and Eddy. 

Grandy had his most recent probation show cause hearing discharged on Oct. 22 with no further date set. 

Drug Possession

Drug charges make up more than 20 percent of the charges defendants were facing when they received the bench warrants.

Drug charges include unlawful possession, possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance as well as possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance while armed. 

Devine Norman, Larry Johnson, Robert Whoie, Cynthia Forth, Andre Stubbs, Dwanda Reese and Earlisha Pryor are seven defendants who received bench warrants for failing to appear in court for drug-related charges dealing with cocaine. 

Johnson, 54, and Forth, 49, are the only defendants out of the seven who were on probation rather than pretrial release. 

Two of the five defendants have prior felony convictions but only one has a prior violent offense. Whoie, 47, was convicted of felony assault on a police officer from an incident in 2017. 

Johnson, Forth and Pryor still have active bench warrants out for their arrests as of Dec. 8.

Reese did not appear at a show cause hearing that was scheduled for Dec. 10. The bench warrant was forwarded to the United States Marshals Service.

Norman and Whoie’s show cause hearing is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2021, and Jan. 21, 2021, respectively. 

Stubbs’ case is scheduled for a status hearing on March 30, 2021. 

Herman Johnson, a  defendant charged with drug possession has two prior convictions for the same charge — distribution of a controlled substance.

In October 2016, Johnson was sentenced to 17 months in prison with credit for time served. In December 2019, for his second conviction, he was sentenced to six months in prison with credit for time served.  He was charged with the distribution of heroin on Jan. 31, 2018. 

Johnson, 41, was issued a bench warrant on Sept. 11 for not showing up to his hearing.

Johnson’s next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 14. He is currently being held at the DC Jail.

Defendants Keisha Christian, Antonieno Kearns and Troye Robertson received bench warrants for charges of unlawful possession of PCP. Travis Haney and Tawayne Weaver were charged with distribution of PCP. 

Of the five defendants, two have prior felony convictions with none of them relating to violence. 

Christian, who was also charged with assault on a police officer and resisting arrest along with her unlawful possession charge, was apprehended on Oct. 9. She is currently on release and must report to the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA.) Her next status hearing is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2021. 

Kearns has a scheduled bench warrant return hearing on April 9, 2021, that was originally rescheduled due to a court emergency in September. 

Robertson is scheduled for a status hearing in his case on Feb. 5, 2021. 

Haney still has an active bench warrant out for his arrest, and Weaver was sentenced to six months in prison that was suspended along with one year of probation on Oct. 28.

Burglary 

More than 16 percent of defendants who received bench warrants have charges for burglary. Of the 11 burglary cases, eight involve charges of second-degree burglary, two involve charges of attempted second-degree burglary and one involves a charge of first-degree burglary. 

One of these defendants has a prior felony conviction. Ralph Wesley, 52,  was convicted of second-degree burglary in 2017.

In Wesley’s current case his next scheduled court date is set for March 11.

-Saif Habboub wrote this article