A jury acquitted a man facing three charges for a weapons offense before DC Superior Court Judge Jennifer Di Toro on Nov. 10.
Williams Azocar-Salas, 29, was originally charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a dangerous weapon for his alleged involvement in a stabbing on April 7, 2024 on the 1300 block of Clifton Street, NW. One victim suffered minor cuts from the incident.
Throughout the trial, Julie Swaney, Azocar-Salas’ defense attorney argued that the encounter between him and the victim, his former roommate, was inconsistent with the prosecution’s argument.
The prosecution focused heavily on details from the victim that Azocar-Salas made an advance and later grazed the victim’s stomach with a knife he was been carrying, in addition to previously sending threatening messages.
According to the victim’s testimony, the two men had been family friends and were from the same town. The victim also testified that Azocar-Salas helped him win an account in his work with the food delivery service, DoorDash.
At the time of the incident, Azocar-Salas recently moved out of their shared home, and was in a a dispute with the victim over money.
The victim testified that the encounter became violent after he stepped backward. and landed on top of Azocar-Salas after he tripped on his moped. There was no prior mention of either man carrying a weapon.
The prosecution, however, said that Azocar-Salas made an advance, contrary to the victim’s testimony. Once the two men were on top of each other, the victim testified he attempted to grab the knife, which resulted in minor cuts sustained during the incident.
Following a day of deliberations, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
Judge Di Toro ordered Azocar-Salas be released from the jail.
No further dates were set.
