Prelim for Murder Case Extends To Third Day

By Carlin Fisher [former] - July 28, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge continued the second day of a preliminary hearing in a murder case after the defense said they did not receive evidence that the prosecution should have given them.

Kirk Spencer, 26, is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting 49-year-old Marcus Covington on Feb. 23 at the Anacostia Metro Station on the 1100 block of Howard Road, SE.

On July 26, the prosecution showed video footage from the metro station. The footage shows a man shooting another man multiple times in the head with a pistol. A Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective identified the shooter as Spencer.

Defense attorney Jacqueline Cadman asked the detective if there was any forensic evidence connecting Spencer to the crime. He said there was none. The shell casings had no DNA and there were no fingerprints matching the defendant at the station, he said. 

The defense also said that the metro footage did not show Spencer’s face and there are no visible attributes to identify him with certainty. 

During their direct examination of the detective, the prosecution brought forth evidence that the defense said they did not receive. On July 27, when Cadman asked the detective about documents and files he obtained throughout his investigation, he referred to pieces of evidence that the defense said they never got.

The defense argued that not receiving this specific evidence was unlawful under the Jencks Act, which says the prosecution is required to hand over reports made from government witnesses.

Judge Michael Ryan agreed with the defense. He said this hearing is “no longer in any way appropriate” and continued it to the next day. He told the prosecution they “will have until midnight tonight to find every communication this detective has made.”