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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- April 8, 2019
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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The day a murder trial was scheduled to begin, a DC Superior Court judge delayed jury selection after the prosecution said they are missing six witnesses.
Derryck Decuir is charged with first-degree murder while armed for his alleged involvement in the death of 15-year-old Malek Dayvon Mercer on the 2800 block of 28th Street, SE, in 2015. Decuir, 26, has been tried twice before. Both trials resulted in mistrials after the juries could not come to a unanimous decision regarding Decuir’s murder charge.
The trial was scheduled to begin on April 8. D.C. Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe continued the trial to April 9.
“This is not a situation where the government can’t find witnesses. This is a situation where these witnesses aren’t showing up,” the prosecution said.
The prosecution said they were “zealously” trying to secure six material witnesses who they have not been able to locate. They said that all six witnesses have testified in Decuir’s previous trials.
“I am quite concerned for the number of material witnesses, all of whom would not be coming in voluntarily,” Judge Iscoe said. He said bringing the witnesses to court involuntarily could impact the credibility of their testimonies.
Judge Iscoe said he signed material witness warrants on April 5. None of the prosecution’s witnesses have been apprehended as of April 8.
“We are trying to go to trial,” the prosecution told the court. The prosecution said they would file motions to declare the witnesses unavailable if they could not be located.
D.C. Witness previously reported that a jury found Decuir guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior felony, carrying a firearm without a license with a prior felony, obstruction of justice and tampering with physical evidence in connection to Mercer’s death.
Decuir was sentenced for the firearms, obstruction and tampering charges in August of 2018. He is currently serving a 23-year sentence.