Although no probable cause was found, DC Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz imposed limited release conditions on shooting defendant on Feb. 26.
Marion Johnson, 16, is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, assault with intent to commit any other offense while armed and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. These charges stem from his alleged involvement in a shooting on Feb. 6 outside of Union Station at the unit block of Massachusetts Ave, NE. A juvenile victim sustained one shot to his foot.
Johnson is charged under Title 16, which allows juveniles to be charged as adults for certain serious offenses.
At Johnson’s preliminary hearing, the prosecution called a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) who was present at the scene to review surveillance footage from nearby buildings and cars surrounding the incident. She was able to identify a person said to be Johnson consistently before, during and after the incident based on his clothing, which matched what Johnson was wearing at the time of his arrest.
The surveillance footage showed the victim punching the person who the detective identified as Johnson inside of Union Station before the incident. The victim, Johnson and many others then ran to the location of the incident where the shooting occurred. The footage showed the the suspect tossing the gun in the snow after the shooting. The defense will cross examine the witness when the parties reconvene.
Johnson’s attorney, Terrence Austin, stated that probable cause was not found at the presentment, and the court therefore, cannot impose significant release conditions. Austin claimed that release conditions would impose “significant restraint on the defendant’s liberty” which is unlawful without probable cause. He would not however, object to stay-away orders from the incident location or the victim.
The prosecution asked Judge Kravitz to impose a GPS tracker, curfew and stay-away order from the incident location and the victim. The prosecutor reminded Judge Kravitz that he is not bound by the no probable cause finding at presentments and that Johnson still faced charges.
Judge Kravitz ultimately decided to release Johnson with a stay-away order from the victim and within a two block radius of the incident address. After taking his school schedule into consideration, he gave Johnson an 8 p. m.-to-6 a. m. curfew.
Although he wanted to mandate a GPS tracker, Judge Kravitz did not believe he had the authority to do so without violating the defendant’s liberty because no probable cause had been found at presentments.
Parties are scheduled to reconvene on March 2.
