DC Criminal Lawyer Blog

A 24-year-old aspiring model from Washington DC has been charged in an unprovoked knife attack in Chinatown. Melodie Anne Brevard is charged with assault with intent to kill and aggravated assault while armed in the stabbing of 20-year-old Annie Ropeik, a Boston University student and intern for National Public Radio.

According to police, the stabbing occurred on a busy sidewalk at approximately 9:30 on the morning of August 4, 2010. Witnesses say that Ropeik was walking to her internship at NPR when Brevard ran up to her, screaming and stabbing her four times in the neck and back. Bystanders subdued Brevard until police arrived. While initial reports stated that the stabbing was the result of a dispute between the two women, police now say that the assault was a "random attack" that was completely unprovoked.

This is not the first time Brevard has needed the services of a DC assault lawyer. She received probation before judgment for charges of second degree assault in 2007, and in 2009, she was charged with assaulting a police officer. The 2009 charge was later dropped by prosecutors.

Charging documents report that Brevard has been diagnosed with Bipolar Type II Disorder, but that she stopped taking her psychotropic medication nearly a month ago. Ironically, Bipolar II is a milder form of Bipolar Disorder, which causes severe and abrupt mood swings from hypomania (extreme excitability) to depression. The prosecution and defense will both certainly pay close attention to Brevard's history of assault and mental illness at her trial.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, a criminal and DUI defense firm serving Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Assault Lawyer or Virginia Assault Lawyer webpages.

With the identification of "hate crimes," a person's motive in an assault becomes key in the development of charges. While DC criminal defense attorneys work to get their clients' charges lessened or dismissed, a person's alleged motive for an attack could actually lead to enhanced charges.

On June 16, the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department announced that two men charged in a 2009 robbery and assault were convicted, and that a bias enhancement was added to their charges. Michael Cowan, 23, and Vernon Long, 25, were found guilty of robbing and beating two men, at least one of whom they perceived to be homosexual.

The incident, which occurred in November 2009, took place when Cowan, Long, and several other men robbed and attaccked two teenagers, aged 17 and 19, as they were leaving a DC convenience store. After stealing the victims' jackets, Cowan and Long beat them. Cowan was charged with continuing the attack based on his perception of the sexual orientation of one of the victims. He admitted to police that he used a derogatory term to reference the victim's perceived homosexuality as he beat him. Because the attack continued as a direct result of Cowan's belief that the victime was gay, the bias enhancement was added to his charges. Washington DC criminal defense lawyers know that bias crimes, or hate crimes, stipulate greater penalites.

Cowan and Long were found guilty of two counts of robbery, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon/ bias-related crime, and one count of assault with significant injury/ bias-related crime. They will be sentenced on July 26.

The District of Columbia is not alone having bias crime statutes. Forty-five other states have also passed hate crime laws; 32 of them cover bias-motivated violence on the basis of sexual orientation. A DC criminal defense attorney must consider the alleged motive when defending a client against bias-enhanced assault charges.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Assault Attorneys and Virginia Assault Lawyers websites.

When arrests are not immediately made and witnesses cannot instantly identify a suspect in a crime, the elapsed time between the incident and the arrest can either help or hinder an investigation. While an ongoing investigation may allow for the discovery of new evidence, it can also taint existing evidence, such as witness statements as memory begins to fade. A DC criminal defense attorney must look closely at any investigation and the evidence it reveals regardless of whether an arrest is immediate or the result of a lengthy investigation.

Nearly a week after the shooting of three men in a northwest Washington DC neighborhood, police have arrested a suspect. A Washington DC criminal defense lawyer will defend Herbert Jackson Arrington, 24, against charges of assault with intent to kill in the shooting that left two men with life-threatening injuries and a third man in serious condition
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On June 9, off-duty police officers working at the 9:30 Club heard nearby gunshots and reported to the scene. When they arrived at Eighth and V streets in the Shaw neighborhood, just a couple of blocks from Howard University, they found two seriously injured men. One had a gunshot wound to the head, and the other had bullet wounds to his body. Both men were transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A third injured man had run to a nearby McDonald's for help and was also hospitalized. Though serious, his wounds were not considered life-threatening.

After the incident, police were looking for a green Chrysler 300 that fled the scene. On June 15, six days after the shooting, Arrington was arrested and charged in the assault.

When an alleged crime results in injury to multiple people, the accused person often faces increased hostility from public perception. It is imperative that A Washington DC criminal defense attorney ensures that an impartial jury is seated should the case go to trial, regardless of the situation leading to an arrest.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Gun Lawyer and Maryland Gun Lawyer websites.

Practicing law in a metropolitan city, it is common for a Washington DC Criminal Defense Lawyer to represent individuals who have been accused of a number of criminal charges, including kidnapping. Sometimes, those who are kidnapped are related to the accused and others they are complete strangers. In a recent DC kidnapping case, a woman unsuccessfully attempted to take two children from their caregiver's stroller.

On Monday evening, Crystal Ann Barnes, 23, approached a woman with a stroller carrying two children as she walked down the street. Barnes attempted to grab the children and take the stroller away, after spitting in the caregiver's face and pulling her hair. The children's father flagged down a police officer for assistance in the 400 block of First Street. Barnes was arrested just a few hours later by Washington DC police at the Capitol South Metro Station for DC assault charges and DC kidnapping charges.

U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider declined to discuss many details surrounding the kidnapping incident because the investigation is currently on-going. Law enforcement officials believe that Barnes had no connection with the children, nor their female caregiver. "It seems pretty random," Schneider said. Barnes, identified by the female victim, was described as being vicious and forceful, nonetheless.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Assault Lawyer and Maryland Assault Lawyer web pages.

During the legal career of an experienced Washington DC criminal lawyer, it is likely to help a number of individuals who have been accused of criminal charges, including assault or abuse. Cases of clients represented are similar to the recent DC abuse charges booked against four school teachers.

After DC schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee told a local magazine that of the two hundred and sixty-six educators fired last fall, some were let go because they were abusive or engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with students. The massive firings were done in response to approximately two hundred incidents filed against DC teachers during the 2008-2009 school year, with complaints ranging from corporal punishment to verbal abuse. From that, sixty-nine cases were referred to the Washington DC Police and warrants were issued for DC abuse charges against four teachers.

Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier is downplaying the numbers, however. She commented, "They kept a log, essentially, of anytime someone said, 'Hey, he pushed me.' So it was a log of incidents reported to them. Not all those were criminal cases. Not all of those cases were even sustained incidents." Despite the large number of logged incidents, a vast majority have been tossed or discounted due to a lack of evidence--usually, it is one person's word against another. Because of the ambiguity surrounding the misconduct incidents, these cases become increasingly harder to prosecute. "...attorneys have to make the decision whether they can prosecute the case..." Lainer concluded.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Criminal Attorney and Maryland Criminal Attorney websites.

Throughout the career of an experienced Washington Washington DC criminal lawyer, it is likely that they will represent individuals accused of armed robbery charges. However, cases handled are rarely as extensive as the December 1st fatal robbery in which a DC officer has been charged. A few weeks ago, Washington DC police released the names of two more suspects. Lynn Daniel Wilkerson, 33, and Jarvis Clark, 19, have been slapped with first degree felony murder charges. The officer, Reginald Jones, and two other suspects have already been arrested on the same charges. Police have released the names of these men in order to receive public aid in finding them.

The aforementioned incident was an attempted street robbery that occurred on the 4300 block of Fourth Street in Southeast Washington DC. One of the robbers, Arvel Alston, was fatally shot during the incident. The shooter was his son, Avrel Crawford, and it allegedly was an accident. When the shooting occurred, there was a police car parked only a short distance away. Inside the car were former officer Jones and a man known as "L." Following investigation police have determined that "L" is referring to Wilkinson.

The other missing suspect, Clark, allegedly help confront the target of the robbery, a forty-five year old man who has been accused of selling illicit drugs. As the man walked to his vehicle, Clark and other robbers accosted him with guns and tried to force him into their car. When the man fought back, Crawford allegedly attempted to shoot him, but hit his father in the side on accident.

And as for Jones: although he did not fire a shot in this case, he did act as a lookout for the robbery. Prior to the incident, he drove his car through the area to clear it out of potential witnesses. All suspects, regardless of their role, all received the same felony murder charges under the doctrine that each participant of a crime is equally responsible for its outcome.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information please visit our Virginia Criminal Lawyers and Maryland Criminal Lawyers websites.

Practicing in a metropolitan area, it is common for a Washington DC Criminal Defense Attorney to represent collegiate athletes who have been accused of criminal charges. Examples of cases handled are similar to the recent incident where two NCAA women's basketball players were suspended last week for assault after they allegedly beat up a male cheerleader. However, the case is now being discharged after prosecutors received conflicting accounts from witnesses as well as the cheerleader's decision not to press charges.

Senior players Amanda Hanneman and Jessra Johnson were arrested on December 11th, for misdemeanor assault charges. Team cheerleader, Justin Short claimed to police that the two female basketball players assaulted him following a late night at the bar on campus. The woman's basketball coach Cindy Stein suspended the two women the next day because of these charges.

Shortly after two in the morning, Short phoned police complaining that guests were making too much noise, including Hanneman and Johnson. According to the players, they attempted to break up a dispute between Short and a female roommate after he physically restrained the woman. However, both women have admitted that they did have physical contact with Short--pushing, slapping, and punching him in the face, ultimately breaking his nose and causing several facial lacerations.

Police ultimately threw out this case because of conflicting stories from those involved and from witnesses. The role of alcohol played a role in each story, making it more difficult for police to discern what the truth is, and what is fabricated. Additionally, Short decided against pressing charges against the girls. While this was not the only determining factor in dismissing the assault charges against the players, it certainly had an effect on the decision. Even though the assault charges have been dropped, it is currently unknown whether the suspensions on the players will also be erased.

This article is presented by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Maryland Assault Lawyer and Virginia Assault Lawyer web pages.

Throughout the career of an experienced DC criminal lawyer, it is common to represent clients who have been accused of sexual crimes. Conviction of these crimes will place that person on a national registry of sex offenders. Being on that list can have life changing consequences, as seen in a recent crackdown on internet sex crimes.

Several thousand metropolitan sex offenders have been from two major social media sites: Facebook and MySpace. The Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP), passed in 2008, provided for the massive sweeping of all sex offenders registered on social media sites. Under the new law, all convicted sex offenders must register all of their personal information with the state including: online profiles, and home, web, and email addresses. Of the thousands of registered sex offenders, just over a quarter have complied with the e-STOP legislation.

Over 3,500 sex offenders have been kicked out of these social media sites as a wake-up call to for everyone, including parents, young adults, law enforcement agencies, as well as the sites themselves. Additionally, the names of those taken from the sites were reported to the state Division of Parole. This was done to make sure that none of the people with sex offense charges have violated their early release provisions while using the social networking sites. The fact that so many sex offenders were booted from Facebook and MySpace displays a clear message that there is a patrol in the cyber world. Popular social media sites make create an easier environment for sex offenders to connect with people.

Many of those kicked out of Facebook and MySpace sites committed recent sex offenses. One rejected member was convicted of sexually assaulting a fourteen year-old boy, while another was convicted of raping a two year-old girl. State officials felt that this information was important to be public knowledge, and has made it available to the social media sites that want it.

This post is provided by The Law Offices of David Benowitz, representing clients in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, please visit our Virginia Sex Crimes Lawyer and Maryland Sex Crimes Lawyer web pages.