DC Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean gave a non-fatal stabbing defendant a fully suspended sentence on Sept. 5.
Daniel Brache, 44, pleaded guilty to assault with significant bodily injury and misdemeanor simple assault on June 9 for his involvement in an incident that occurred April 13 on the 1900 block of C Street, SE, leaving two individuals injured. One individual sustained stab wounds.
The prosecution asked for a sentence of 15 months for the first charge and 180 days suspended for the misdemeanor. They also asked that Brache be sent for a mental health evaluation and other recommended programs.
The prosecution said that Brache and his romantic partner were in an argument because she would not let him back into her apartment to get some of his belongings. They said Brache struck her and a security guard intervened. Then, Brache produced a knife and stabbed the security guard, according to the prosecutor.
Defense attorney Joseph Molina argued that when the security guard intervened, Brache thought he was being assaulted. Molina also said that the security guard was cut on his fingers.
“Fingers bleed like crazy,” he said.
Molina said that Brache is not a violent man and that this was an unfortunate circumstance.
“It just turned into a complete and utter disaster,” Molina said.
Brache also spoke, expressing remorse for his actions. He explained that on the day of the incident, he wanted to retrieve his Venezuelan and New York IDs, immigration papers and bank information from his partner’s apartment.
Judge McLean sentenced Brache to 12 months for assault with significant bodily injury and 180 days for simple assault with all time suspended except for the time Brache already served for each count. Brache was also given three years of supervised release, which was suspended in favor of one year of probation. McLean also ordered that he attend mental health treatment and participate in housing assistance and vocational training.
No further dates were set.
