Lawyer Testifies About Recanted Testimony in Murder Retrial

By Jenna Lee , Madelyn Nall - October 18, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A homicide defendant’s former defense attorney testified as a witness that the defendant repeatedly asked him to provide evidence that a witness admitted he lied in previous testimony. The case is being argued in front of DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo on Oct. 15. 

Eugene Burns, 32, is charged with first-degree murder while armed, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence  for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of Onyekachi Emmanuel Osuchukwu III, on Nov. 14, 2015, on the 2900 block of Second Street, SE.

Burns was convicted of these charges in 2017, but the DC Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in 2020. The court ruled that investigators had searched beyond what was legally allowed.

Burns and Tyre Allen, 24, are also charged with conspiracy, obstructing justice by influencing or delaying a witness or officer, and obstruction of the due administration of justice. The charges stem from their alleged involvement in persuading and intimidating a witness — Allen’s brother — who provided testimony in Burns’ original trial.

The prosecution called Burns’ former defense attorney to testify about his experience on the trial in 2017. The attorney testified to emails and phone calls exchanged with Burns while Burns was incarcerated.

In one of these emails, Burns allegedly told the attorney, “We need to do something about [Allen’s brother].” Prosecutors alleged that this refers to Burns’ strategy to intimidate Allen’s brother to recant his previous testimony. 

The witness testified that after a previous judge in the case denied Burns’ motion for pretrial release, Burns repeatedly asked him about how they were going to admit into evidence Allen’s brother’s recantation of his previous testimony. 

“I’m trying to make moves,” Burns allegedly wrote in one of the emails to his attorney. 

Prosecutors called a former defense investigator on the case to the stand, who testified that Allen’s brother signed a sworn affidavit in 2020 recanting testimony he gave in Burns’ original trial that Burns had confessed to him.

Allen’s brother testified on Oct. 8 that he lied in his sworn affidavit. In the affidavit, Allen’s brother said he had lied in the original trial in 2017, saying Burns had confessed to him because he wanted the $25,000 reward money for giving information about the case. 

The witness testified that when she interviewed Burns for the affidavit in 2020, he did not mention anyone pressuring him to recant his testimony, but he did mention that Allen had shown him text messages from Burns in jail. 

The investigator said Allen’s brother went over the whole affidavit with an attorney before signing it, but he testified on Oct. 8 that he only had 30 seconds to look over it. 

Jocelyn Wisner, one of Burns’ attorneys, asked the investigator if Allen’s brother told her that he was hearing voices while in jail, and the witness said yes. The witness also said she did not ask the attorney who wrote the affidavit to leave out any facts from her memo

Parties will reconvene on Oct. 16.