Mom Says Counsel Forced Son to Take Guilty Plea

By D.C. Witness Staff - May 21, 2018
Featured | Homicides | Suspects |

A mother, whose son was convicted of first-degree murder, recently told D.C. Witness about the unlawful neglect and judicial injustice her son was subject to as his case underwent court proceedings.

Robin Michelle Bell said May 18 that counsel neglected her son’s mental and physical health to coerce him into pleading guilty to first-degree murder while armed.

Bell’s son, David Joshua Bright, was convicted for the shooting deaths of Clifton David Francis and David Aumon Watkins, Jr. The homicides occurred in a group home on the 500 block of 58th Street, NE in 2016. The plea deal carries a sentence of 33 years in prison, after which Bright will be required to serve five additional years on supervised release.

The sentencing was delayed until June 8 because Bright’s attorney, Dominique Winters, was not present. Winters did not respond to D.C. Witness inquires about Bell’s accusations.

However, in the hallway outside the courtroom, Bell showed D.C. Witness a black and white photo of a man standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“This is my father, the honorable Dr. Roy Charles Bell,” Bell said. “A civil rights advocate that advocated for medical rights across prisons in this country and filed a federal lawsuit that ended segregation in Grady Hospital (Atlanta, Georgia) and nationwide. This is where we come from… I was without a father so he could fight this, and now his grandson is treated worse than a dog.”

Bell said her son suffered abuse while staying in the mental health ward at the DC jail.

She also said the ward deprived inmates of water to control their behavior. She said Bright was denied water for three days, which resulted in an asthma attack. According to Keena Blackmon, public information officer at DC Jail, the DC Department of Corrections does not withhold water to control inmate behavior.

In addition to depriving Bright of water, Bell said she believes Bright was beaten by jail guards and that his property, including legal documents and a Bible, were stolen from his cell.

Bell said the beating was responsible for one of Bright’s several suicide attempts while at the jail. Apparently, Bright has attempted to kill himself five times by swallowing C-sized batteries.

“Why is it normal for a grown man to be in a cage… Naked on a cold floor in December? Why is that normal? That’s not normal,” Bell said. “That’s not supposed to happen here in DC. That’s not supposed to happen in this country.”

Bell said the plea was negotiated while her son was undergoing surgeries to have the batteries removed.

Furthermore, she said she believes her son’s mistreatment came as a result of her writing a letter to D.C. Superior Court Judge Jose Lopez about Bright’s autism. In the letter, Bell said she believed the court was trying to keep her son’s autism a secret.

Bell said she also believes her son’s case was neglected as retribution for speaking at a Department of Corrections oversight hearing that she was invited to by DC Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety.

Bell also told D.C. Witness about the rushed and unprofessional nature court officials and attorneys displayed toward her son’s case.

“The attorney said, ‘I don’t know the case, I don’t have the file,” said Bell. “The judge’s attitude was unusual. ‘No, I wanna get this over with.’ That’s what they’ve been saying. That’s been the undercurrent this whole time.”

Even though D.C. Superior Court Judge Ronna Beck delayed the sentencing until June, she still allowed the victims’ families to give statements.

“It was the worst day of my life,” Watkin’s mother told the judge. “I’ll never hear him again. I’ll never hear his voice… I can honestly tell you I had the best children in the world… David didn’t deserve this. He was too good of a kid.”

Patricia Nelson contributed to this article.