DC Superior Court Judge Jason Park gave a non-compliant homicide defendant a second chance regarding his release terms on March 26.
Steven Washington, 26 is charged with conspiracy, first-degree felony murder while armed, two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business, and attempting to commit robbery while armed. These charges stem from his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of Nurudeen Thomas, 30, on the 4100 block of 14th Street, NW, on July 21, 2020.
D.C. Witness previously reported, Washington failed to appear for his hearing on March 23 and has had failed to contact his attorneys, Quo Judkins and Veronice Holt, and Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) and has been non-compliant with GPS guidelines.
He appeared at his last hearing on March 25, however, it was delayed to the next day because, according to Judge Park, Judkins had an “unexpected emergency.”
During the hearing, Judge Park went through PSA documents regarding Washington’s non-compliance. According to the documents, Washington’s GPS device was dead for 48 hours resulting in a loss of contact.
Judkins said Washington was unable to communicate with PSA and the attorneys in this period of time because of his housing problems.
She explained he has been living in a hotel and neither the attorneys nor PSA had his contact information, since Washington did not know his hotel phone number. She explained, the hotel had checked him out without Washington’s knowledge and when he came back from work his belongings were removed by hotel staff leading to the dead battery and communication issues.
“My understanding is that Washington has spoken with PSA yesterday and today,” Judkins said. “His understanding regarding GPS charging is that when the device blinks red he needs to charge it.”
A PSA agent at the hearing, clarified to Washington and Judkins that he needs to charge the device every day for one hour.
The prosecution requested that Washington turn himself in to DC Jail, arguing his serious charge requires perfect compliance with his release terms.
Judkins said when he lost contact, Washington was unaware of the GPS charging rules and now he’s “making steps to make sure that it never happens again” by contacting his PSA agent everyday even though that is not required.
Judge Park reiterated the prosecution’s argument and said it is rare for someone facing homicide charges to be on release.
“He’s been given an extraordinary opportunity” to be out in the community, Judge Park said.
He acknowledged that Washington did show up for his previous hearing, which was a step in the right direction.
As a result, Judge Park rejected the prosecution’s request to revoke Washington’s release and scheduled another hearing for him to demonstrate “perfect compliance.”
The judge also acknowledged his housing issues, but he told Washington that was not an excuse for non-compliance.
Judge Park asked PSA to immediately alert him if Washington is not being compliant.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene April 21.
