McLeese , Associate Judge : Under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act of 1980 (TOPA), D.C. Code 42-3404.01 et seq. (2012 Repl. & 2018 Supp.), tenants have certain rights if the owner of a rental accommodation wishes to sell the accommodation, including a right to notice and a right of first refusal. Appellant Margaret Williams is a tenant in a four-unit housing accommodation. Appellees James C. Kennedy, Clara Kennedy, and Victor Robinson ("owners") have an interest in the accommodation....
Glickman , Associate Judge : Andrew Weems appeals his convictions after a bench trial of shoplifting and attempted threats to do bodily harm. He contends the trial judge erred by (1) not sanctioning the government for its failure to preserve and produce discoverable evidence; and (2) permitting the government to amend the information before trial to reduce the threats charges against him and thereby eliminate his statutory entitlement to a trial by jury. We reject appellant's claims of...
Ruiz , Senior Judge : Jean-Baptiste Bado appeals his conviction for misdemeanor sexual abuse of a minor, after a bench trial, on the ground that he was denied the right to a jury trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. The court, sitting en banc, is asked to decide whether the Sixth Amendment guarantees a right to a jury trial to an accused who faces the penalty of removal/deportation 1 as a result of a criminal conviction for an offense that is punishable by incarceration for up to 180...
Beckwith , Associate Judge : St. Thomas' Episcopal Parish, a church in Dupont Circle, sought an area variance in order to build a combination church and residential building, and the Board of Zoning Adjustment granted that variance. Two neighborhood associations — collectively, the petitioners here — challenge the Board's order, arguing that the Parish has not met the requirements for an area variance. We vacate the Board's order and remand for further proceedings. I. On September 1,...
McLeese , Associate Judge : Appellant Tyrone Wade challenges his convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. Mr. Wade argues that the trial court erroneously denied his motions to suppress evidence, that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions, and that the trial court erroneously imposed a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. We affirm. I. Before trial, Mr. Wade moved to suppress...
THOMPSON , Associate Judge : This action arose when appellant District of Columbia ("the District"), asserting that it was acting "in its parens patriae capacity and through its Attorney General," brought suit against defendant/appellee ExxonMobil Oil Corp. ("Exxon") and defendants/appellees Anacostia Realty, LLC ("Anacostia") and Springfield Petroleum Realty, LLC ("Springfield") (affiliated entities sometimes hereafter referred to together as the "Distributors"), and Capitol Petroleum...
McLeese , Associate Judge : Petitioner Nelson Bostic seeks review of a decision of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) to terminate him from a housing-voucher program because Mr. Bostic is required to register for life as a convicted sex offender. Mr. Bostic contends that DCHA's decision is contrary to federal law. We affirm. I. The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program is a rent-subsidy program funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...
Glickman , Associate Judge : Albert Jones appeals his conviction for unlawful possession of cocaine. He claims the trial judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the cocaine as the fruit of an unconstitutional seizure when a police officer detained him, without reasonable articulable suspicion, for questioning and a warrant check. The government argues that appellant was not seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. Whether...
REID , Senior Judge : This case involves a January 25, 2015, complaint for possession of real property due to non-payment of one month's rent in January 2015, filed by appellee, Greenway Apartments LP t/a Meadow Green Courts ("Greenway"), and a counterclaim, lodged by appellant Dionne Smith, claiming housing code violations dating back to February 27, 2012, that entitled her to a rent abatement. Prior to trial, the trial court issued an order, dated July 14, 2015, limiting Ms. Smith's...
GLICKMAN , Associate Judge : Shortly after 2 a.m. on August 13, 2011, Dominique Bassil fatally stabbed her boyfriend, Vance Harris, in the kitchen of their apartment. There were no other witnesses to the encounter. Although Bassil told police and testified at her trial that she acted in self-defense, the jury convicted her of murder in the second degree while armed. On appeal, Bassil contends there was insufficient evidence at trial to disprove her claim of self-defense. She argues that no...
BELSON , Senior Judge : Parcel One Phase One Associates, L.L.P. ("Parcel One") appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff/appellee Museum Square Tenants Association, Inc. ("the Association"). Parcel One argues the trial court erred in its determination that (1) the Association had standing under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act ("TOPA") to bring suit challenging Parcel One's offer of sale, see D.C. Code 42-3404.01, -3404.11 (1) (2012 Repl.), and...
REID , Senior Judge : In 2004, this court rejected appellant Jayvon White's challenge to the trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. White v. United States, 863 A.2d 839 (D.C.2004) ( White I ). In the case now before us, Mr. White appeals the trial court's denial of his 2012 pro se motion, filed under D.C. Code 23-110 (2012 Repl.), to vacate, set aside or correct sentence and judgment. He primarily claims that (1) during his plea colloquy the trial court...
GLICKMAN , Associate Judge : Nyia Gore appeals her conviction after a bench trial for the misdemeanor offense of malicious destruction of property. We reverse and remand because the trial court erred in denying appellant's motion to suppress incriminating admissions and physical evidence that police obtained by entering and searching her home without a warrant. The Fourth Amendment protects "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their ... houses ... against unreasonable searches and...
THOMPSON , Associate Judge : On October 8, 2013, Tyrone Jones and Gordon Carpenter were arrested in connection with a narcotics buy/bust operation. Mr. Jones filed (and Mr. Carpenter joined) a motion to suppress tangible evidence, which was denied. A jury thereafter convicted each of them of one count of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance (heroin), having heard an undercover officer testify that she gave a $20 bill to Jones, who gave the money to Carpenter, received from...
STEADMAN , Senior Judge : Nathaniel Cousart appeals his convictions by a jury of aggravated assault while armed (AAWA) 1 and assault with a dangerous weapon (ADW). 2 He argues that the trial court committed plain error in its instructions on both counts. We find no plain error. However, we publish this opinion because in instructing on the AAWA count, the trial court closely followed the model instructions in Criminal Jury Instructions for the District of Columbia (5th ed. rev. 2015), 3...
FARRELL , Senior Judge : The Fraternal Order of Police/Metropolitan Police Department Labor Committee (the FOP) appeals from the Superior Court's dismissal of its suit asking for reversal of an impasse arbitration award made under D.C.Code 1-617.17(f)(3) (2012 Repl.). Key to the issue we decide is that, in order to "take effect," D.C.Code 1-617.17(j), the arbitration award had to be submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia for its "accept[ance] or reject[ion]." Id. The...
REID , Senior Judge : These appeals arise from the indictment of appellant, Eric Gardner, on several felony charges related to the shooting death of cab driver Andrew Kamara on November 12, 2004. 1 A jury convicted Mr. Gardner of some of the charges in November 2006, but this court reversed his convictions because of errors in the admission of DNA evidence. We remanded the case for a new trial. See Gardner v. United States, 999 A.2d 55 , 63 (D.C.2010). The government retried Mr. Gardner...
McLEESE , Associate Judge : Appellant Matthew Gabramadhin challenges his convictions for kidnapping and assault with intent to commit first-degree sexual abuse. Mr. Gabramadhin argues that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting into evidence a recorded emergency phone call under the excited-utterance exception to the rule against hearsay. We agree and therefore vacate Mr. Gabramadhin's convictions. I. The evidence at trial was as follows. The complainant, M.H., was a...
PER CURIAM : Michael Wonson asks us to reverse his two murder convictions because the government failed to present evidence that it maintained custody over the ballistics evidence (multiple cartridge cases and one live round) admitted at trial. Although a crime-scene search technician testified that he collected these items at the scene, and a firearms and toolmark examiner testified that he examined these items, the government never explained how the items made their way from the former to...
WASHINGTON , Chief Judge : Warren B. Washington ("Appellant") challenges his convictions following a jury trial for three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon ("ADW") 1 and three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence ("PFCV"). 2 On appeal, appellant argues that the trial court erroneously answered a jury note requesting clarification on the definition of "imitation firearm" with an over-broad definition that permitted the jury to convict appellant of ADW and...
