District of Columbia Court of Appeals

The court affirmed the denial of Euceda’s motion for sentence reduction under the IRAA. It held that a defendant’s age at the time of the offense must weigh in favor of relief, though its weight may vary; the trial court considered Euceda’s age in its ruling as a whole.

The court reversed the Board’s order because the security plan, read as a whole and in the context of the statute it tracked, described training that personnel would receive rather than imposing a separate duty to call police or EMS after every emergency.

The court vacated Rezene’s first-degree murder conviction because the jury’s verdict was reached amid a substantial risk of coercion created by two jurors’ imminent, inflexible travel plans, prior deadlock notes, an anti-deadlock instruction, and the absence of assurances that the jurors could leave regardless of…

The court approved an amended petition for negotiated discipline after respondent acknowledged that his resume and cover letter contained false statements made in connection with a job application.

The court upheld the trial court’s admission of the government’s accident-reconstruction expert testimony under Rule 702, concluding that challenges to the experts’ data and conclusions principally affected weight rather than admissibility.

The Court affirmed Melvin Young's conviction for unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, holding that the evidence proved his knowledge of lacking permission, that the government did not violate D.C. Criminal Rule 16, and that no Brady violation occurred because the withheld documents were not material.

The Court held that the Massachusetts Avenue Heights Citizens Association has standing, vacated the Superior Court’s judgment and remanded for further proceedings on the mixed‑use determination, the municipal‑interest determination, and the imposition of conditions on the Kosovo chancery application.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the Superior Court’s judgment, holding that the $1,000 per‑count Victims of Violent Crime Compensation Act assessments imposed on Nicolas Delgado do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause because they are not grossly disproportional to the gravity…

The court affirmed Shelton’s firearms convictions, holding that the trial court properly responded to the jury’s question by explaining joint constructive possession and reiterating that Shelton himself had to possess the power and intent to control the gun.

The court held that the Superior Court reversibly erred by dismissing Gallo's complaint sua sponte under Rule 12(b)(6) without providing notice of the proposed dismissal or an opportunity to respond.

The court affirmed Frazier’s convictions and upheld the denial of his motion to suppress the handgun and ammunition. It held that Frazier was not seized before the officer observed and questioned him about an L-shaped bulge because the encounter remained brief, cordial, nonaccusatory, and unrestrictive.

The court affirmed the Compensation Review Board’s determination that Crutchfield’s 2022 claims for renewed wage-loss and medical benefits were barred by the one-year limitations period.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals indefinitely suspended Dawn Sunshine Veltman pursuant to the reciprocal discipline presumption and conditioned her reinstatement on her reinstatement in Maryland, with a one‑year waiting period measured from filing the required affidavit.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals entered an order suspending Gregory Krasovsky from the practice of law for thirty days, with reinstatement conditioned on a showing of fitness.

The Court held that the police stop of Chance Cato Johnson was not supported by reasonable articulable suspicion because the confidential informant's tip lacked sufficient reliability and the trial court erred in its assessment; consequently, the convictions were reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.

The Court affirmed the dismissal of the residents' suit because they lacked standing, but corrected the trial court's error by ordering the dismissal without prejudice and remanding for entry of a revised judgment.

The Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress GPS data, holding that the limited sharing of the defendant’s location with police was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that the police officers lacked reasonable, articulable suspicion to stop Marc Anthony Quarles, vacated his convictions, and remanded for further proceedings.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals disbarred David A. Edelstein, conditioning reinstatement on his reinstatement in Maryland and delaying the start of his disbarment until he files a compliant affidavit, applying the rebuttable presumption of reciprocal discipline.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reviewed the trial court’s summary‑judgment rulings on five claims brought by Hamza Farooqui against Charles Wong, Zhou Qingzhi and related entities.

The Court struck Deutsche Bank's appellate brief for containing fabricated citations, affirmed the lower court's judgment on the pleadings, and explained its limited sanctioning authority, noting that the conduct did not rise to the level of bad faith required for harsher penalties.

The appellate court affirmed Brown’s aggravated‑assault convictions but held that the trial court’s admission of pre‑shooting video evidence and the government’s references to Brown’s alleged drug business, while erroneous, were harmless.

The D.C. Court of Appeals held that a custodial grandmother is a "family member" of the children’s biological mother under the Intrafamily Offenses Act, reversing the trial court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction and remanding for further proceedings.

The D.C. Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s finding that Bockai acquired the Anacostia property by adverse possession, vacated the gift analysis and attorney‑fees award, and remanded for further proceedings.

The Court granted Disciplinary Counsel’s motion to file the petition for suspension under seal and ordered the indefinite suspension of David J. Ontell from the practice of law in the District of Columbia on the basis of disability. The order also directed compliance with the applicable D.C.

The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of Elliott Wallace and Antoine Layne arising from a traffic stop that yielded firearms and drugs. The court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in qualifying MPD Officer Scott Brown as a narcotics expert and allowing him to testify about the drug…

The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed Matthew Walker's bench-trial convictions for first-degree murder while armed and related offenses, holding that surveillance footage, DNA on the tracksuit, mask, and pistol recovered along the shooter's flight path, and a note bearing his phone number collectively sufficed to prove…

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed James Thomas's conviction for misdemeanor sexual abuse, holding the evidence insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he grabbed the victim's buttocks with the intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify sexual desire.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Atefeh Rokhvand's and Hazami Barmada's petitions for anti-stalking orders against Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, holding that his comments during three incidents at a protest outside the Israeli embassy were political hyperbole and not 'true threats' unprotected…

The D.C. Court of Appeals reversed Charles Brooks's conviction for possession of a prohibited weapon (PPW), holding the evidence insufficient beyond a reasonable doubt to prove he possessed the taser used in a two-on-one street assault: the record left it equally likely that Brooks was the armed assailant or the…

The court held that Peoples adequately pleaded claims for breach of the warranty of habitability and sexual assault, so dismissal of those claims was improper. Although her complaint did not adequately plead race discrimination, the court held that the claim should have been dismissed without prejudice because she was…

The court approved an amended petition for negotiated discipline after respondent admitted multiple professional-conduct violations arising from his representation of an asylum-seeking client.

The court affirmed dismissal of both appellants' counterclaims and summary judgment for Wilmington in the judicial foreclosure action. Ms. Edwards failed to plead that Wilmington was a CPPA merchant or that she relied on an allegedly inaccurate default notice, while Ms.

The court held that the Burtons’ requests for declaratory and injunctive relief were not moot because the condominium association’s new rule did not permit them to install their specific charging system under their preferred plans and vendor.

The court held that the District of Columbia's violent-crime sentence-enhancement statute does not apply when the two prior convictions occurred during the same proceeding on the same day, even if the underlying offenses were committed at different times.

The court held that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting a detective's testimony about unauthenticated, unavailable surveillance footage and by admitting prejudicial testimony that the victim feared Watkins.

The court affirmed the Superior Court's decision granting Jeffrey Rice a fifteen-year IRAA sentence reduction but denying immediate release. It held that the court acted within its discretion by considering codefendant sentencing disparity as part of the individualized interests-of-justice analysis, and that any error…

The court affirmed Morehead’s conviction for assaulting A.A., holding that transferred intent applies to a nonfatal assault when the defendant intentionally assaults one person, unintentionally injures another, and the unintended victim is actually injured.

The court held that the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing a deliberating juror on the sixth day of deliberations because the record left a reasonable possibility that the juror was removed for holding views favoring acquittal.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed Kenneth M. Davis's convictions, held that the trial court did not err in admitting the lay testimony of a Maserati service director, the victim's photo‑array identification, and the flight evidence, and found sufficient evidence for the assault‑with‑dangerous‑weapon…