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By
Rebecca Silverman [former]
- March 10, 2022
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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A defense attorney is seeking a murder defendant’s release from DC Jail, citing the facility’s conditions of confinement and the changing circumstances surrounding the case.
Wesley Scott, 21, is charged with first-degree murder while armed in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old David Young on the 3500 block of 22nd Street, SE, on April 3, 2020. The 21-year-old defendant has been held in custody ever since he was arrested the following August.
During Scott’s most recent hearing on March 9, defense attorney Matthew Davies voiced his request for his client’s release. Davies said the defendant has been involved in violence intervention programs and has no prior convictions. He said nothing in Scott’s background should cause concern for the community’s safety.
In a bond review motion filed last November, Davies pointed out that Michael Benbow, who identified Scott as the driver of the vehicle allegedly used in the deadly shooting, is now deceased. Benbow, 18, was also charged with murder in connection with Young’s death but he was fatally shot on April 21, 2021, while on pretrial release.
“The Court previously found that there was clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Scott is a danger to the community based on evidence that is no longer available to the government,” Davies wrote in the motion.
As well as this, Davies’ motion referred to poor conditions at the DC Jail in light of an unannounced inspection of the facility performed by the U.S. Marshals Service last November.
The prosecution opposed the release request. Judge Maribeth Raffinan said she will address this motion at the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 1.