Jury Decisions in Murder Trials Stagnate

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Six murder trials have concluded in the DC Superior Court since the suspension of jury trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted. The court did not hold jury trials for more than a year until the first one began in July 2021. That trial ended with a jury convicting two men of murdering 37-year-old Christopher Heard.

The six trials have ended in three ways–– mistrial, a guilty verdict or the defendant being acquitted.

This graphic does not account for two ongoing murder trials in the court.

One of the mistrials was for Tony McClam, who prosecutors accused of murdering 11-year-old Karon Brown. A jury acquitted him of first-degree murder while armed but could not reach a verdict on lesser homicide charges of second-degree murder while armed and voluntary manslaughter while armed. The jury convicted McClam of carrying a pistol without a license but could not reach a decision on any other charges filed against the defendant.

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