In a domestic violence stabbing case, a surgeon testified before DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt on June 8 that force was required to make a deep wound the victim sustained to her neck.
James Callen, 42, is charged with assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault knowingly while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault with significant bodily injury while armed for his alleged involvement in a non-fatal stabbing on July 13, 2024 on the 1600 block of Morris Road, SE. All assault charges have an aggravating factor of allegedly being committed during Callen’s release for a prior offense.
The victim, Callen’s romantic interest, sustained puncture wounds to the neck, chin, arm, and back, visible bruising to the face, and trauma to the head.
Callen is also charged with four counts of contempt for allegedly violating a stay-away order from the victim between Sept. 1, 2024 to Feb. 1, 2025 while he was incarcerated.
A surgeon testified that the cut on the victim’s neck had reached the jugular, an important vein buried behind “thick muscle.” According to the surgeon, an injury to the jugular requires force and is life threatening. The victim had also lost a “very significant” amount of blood, which the surgeon said could cause the memory loss that the victim experienced.
In his testimony, the surgeon cited the victim’s urine test, which noted that the victim had five times the limit for Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). The victim also tested positive for cocaine and benzodiazepines which have a tranquilizing effect, though the surgeon said they could have been from medicine administered to her at the hospital.
The surgeon explained that he operated on the victim, closing the neck and chin wounds before referring her to a hand surgeon specialist.
On cross-examination, the surgeon admitted he was not an expert in reconstruction of a crime. He said, “I don’t generally try to assess how it occurred.” The surgeon could not tell the jury the order if the injuries and agreed with Callen’s attorney, Alvin Thomas, that, “a cut can be caused by accident or intent.”
The surgeon also agreed with Thomas that heavy drug use can cause memory loss and have an effect on perception, judgement, and behavior.
The prosecutors also called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) patrol officer that responded to the crime scene on the night of the incident. He said that Callen was the first person he saw when he arrived.
While the officer said that Callen was cooperative, he also noted that Callen appeared, “agitated,” and “a little nervous.” According to the officer, Callen helped him get into the apartment building where Callen. had been with and the victim. Inside the apartment, the officer testified that he saw a bloody towel and blood on the walls.
When the officer was at the scene, he said that Callen accompanied him the entire time, approximately two hours.
In addition a former MPD detective testified for the prosecution that eight hours after the incident, Callen willingly spoke to her without an attorney present.
A video of the interview was played by prosecutors, where Callen can be heard saying that the victim was already bleeding before they met up. The former detective testified that Callen told her that he called for an ambulance, despite the victim telling him not to.
Prosecutors showed the former detective photos of Callen’s hands, taken near the time of the interview, and asked her if she saw any markings or injuries. She said that she saw no injuries in the pictures and that Callen had not mentioned any injuries in their interview, though he did have some dried blood on his hands.
On cross-examination, the defense clarified that another officer interviewed Callen prior to the former detective, which prosecutors did not discuss.
The prosecution called a monitoring specialist from the Department of Corrections (DOC) who explained to the jury how all communications between DC Jail inmates and civilians are tracked through the DOC’s system and stored in their database.
The specialist, who was tasked with producing a call log of Callen’s phone calls while incarcerated, displayed the log to the jury. She noted several outgoing calls made by Callen and explained how the log was organized.
The parties are slated to reconvene on June 9.
