This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Atlantic and Maryland Reporters. Users are requested to notify the Clerk of the Court of any formal errors so that corrections may be made before the bound volumes go to press. BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge. Before us is an appeal challenging the trial court's actions following an aborted jury poll. Appellant Robert Leake was convicted of carrying a pistol without a license, unlawful possession of a firearm,...
OBERLY, Associate Judge: Devon Davis and Tywon Hager were convicted of armed robbery, 1 assault with intent to commit robbery, 2 and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence ("PFCV") 3 in connection with an incident on the early morning of July 1, 2008. Davis was separately convicted of escape 4 and violating the Bail Reform Act ("BRA"). 5 In addition to mounting a constitutional challenge to his exclusion from the voir dire process, Davis raises evidentiary challenges to his...
BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge: Before us is an appeal challenging the trial court's actions following an aborted jury poll. Appellant Robert Leake was convicted of carrying a pistol without a license, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. 1 Appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to perceive the inherent potential for jury coercion following a juror's dissent in open court, and by...
BECKWITH, Associate Judge: A jury found appellant Otis Jackson Jr. guilty of murdering his brother, threatening their father, and setting fire to their house. Then, in the second part of a two-phase trial, the same jury rejected Mr. Jackson's claim that he was not responsible for the crimes by reason of insanity. Mr. Jackson now challenges various decisions the judge made in conducting his bifurcated trial, and he argues that some of his convictions on related weapons offenses ought to be...
BELSON, Senior Judge: This is an appeal by a hospital and a physician from a large judgment against them in a medical malpractice case. Appellee Crystal Wheeler suffered various medical complications as the result of a Rathke's cleft cyst behind her left eye, which went undetected for nearly ten years despite its appearance on a 1996 MRI report. Wheeler brought a medical-malpractice suit against the appellants, Marilyn McPherson-Corder, M.D., and the President and Directors of Georgetown...
This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Atlantic and Maryland Reporters. Users are requested to notify the Clerk of the Court of any formal errors so that corrections may be made before the bound volumes go to press. KING, Senior Judge. On May 11, 2011, a jury found appellant Tavon E. Vines guilty of eight separate charges, including one count of robbery, 1 two counts of malicious destruction of property, 2 and one count of simple assault. 3 On appeal from...
JOSEY-HERRING, Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia: On January 10, 2011, a jury found appellant Johnny B. Williams guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm, 1 possession of an unregistered firearm, 2 and unlawful possession of ammunition. 3 Mr. Williams argues on appeal that: (1) the trial court committed plain error by admitting evidence that he had previously been convicted of a felony; and (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to vacate his conviction...
TERRY, Senior Judge: Appellant was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it while armed, along with three firearm-related offenses. On appeal he contends (1) that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence that was seized following a traffic stop, and (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Finding no error, we affirm. I On December 11, 2010, at around 5:30 p.m., Officers Aaron Casper and Devon Atcheson of the...
EASTERLY, Associate Judge: Appellants Lisha Quarles and Kathie Byrd are former employees of Community Alternatives of Washington, D.C., Inc., which operates group homes that house adults with intellectual disabilities. 1 Contending that they were discharged by Community Alternatives because of their complaints about client treatment and staff working conditions, Ms. Quarles, Ms. Byrd, and a third Community Alternatives employee, Michelle Monroe, filed suit, alleging that Community...
BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge: After conducting a preliminary investigation, the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights (OHR) found that there was no probable cause to support appellant Timothy Sparrow's allegations that appellee R.B. Properties: (1) failed to provide him with a reasonable accommodation for his disability; and (2) terminated him in retaliation for requesting a reasonable accommodation. Upon reconsideration at Sparrow's request, OHR affirmed its initial determination...
OBERLY, Associate Judge: Travis Littlejohn was convicted of voluntary manslaughter while armed in connection with the stabbing death of Nadir Farooq. This court affirmed his conviction on direct appeal. Littlejohn v. United States, No. 05-CF-359, Mem. Op. & J., 963 A.2d 167 (D.C. Nov. 17, 2008). During the pendency of his direct appeal, Littlejohn filed a motion to vacate his conviction pursuant to D.C.Code 23-110 (2001), alleging that trial counsel had been constitutionally ineffective...
EASTERLY, Associate Judge: Appellants Rachelle Barimany and Erik Dove appeal the trial court's dismissal of their tort action against Appellee Urban Pace LLC ("Urban Pace") for wrongful involvement in litigation. They argue that the trial court improperly applied Virginia law instead of District of Columbia law; alternatively, they argue that, even if Virginia law (specifically the Virginia Condominium Act, Va.Code Ann. 55-79.39 to -79.103 (2010)) applied, it did not immunize Urban Pace...
WASHINGTON, Chief Judge: Appellant, Jamar B. Hammond, appeals his conviction for one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony ("UPF"), two counts of possessing an unregistered firearm ("UF"), and two counts of unlawfully possessing ammunition ("UA"). On appeal, appellant argues that his two UF convictions should be merged, as well as his two convictions for UA, and that his conviction for UPF should merge with his convictions for UF. Appellant also contends...
KING, Senior Judge: On May 11, 2011, a jury found appellant Tavon E. Vines guilty of eight separate charges, including one count of robbery, 1 two counts of malicious destruction of property, 2 and one count of simple assault. 3 On appeal from those convictions, Vines argues: (1) the trial court erred by allowing the joinder of all charges against him in a single trial; (2) his two convictions for malicious destruction of property merged under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth...
BECKWITH, Associate Judge: A jury note puzzlingly "fell through the cracks" 1 during deliberations in appellant Omar Euceda's trial on felony murder while armed, attempted armed robbery, and weapons charges. When Mr. Euceda's lawyer opened the file to begin work on an appeal, he discovered the note — posing two detailed questions about an element of attempted armed robbery — but found no record that the trial court ever had responded to the questions. Counsel also determined that neither Mr....
GLICKMAN, Associate Judge: The question in this appeal is whether appellant William Watson's Sixth Amendment rights were violated at his trial by the introduction of incriminating statements he had made to a fellow jail inmate named Charles Bender. The answer turns on whether Bender was acting as the government's agent when he elicited appellant's statements. In a previous decision in this case, we remanded for the Superior Court to reconsider the issue in light of new information provided by...
FARRELL, Senior Judge: Garnetta L. Hunt (Hunt), formerly a correctional officer with the rank of Sergeant with the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DOC), filed suit alleging that she had not been provided with a reasonable accommodation for a disability — mainly psychological — that she sustained after being attacked by a jail inmate. Hunt claimed discrimination based on her disability, in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act (DCHRA), D.C.Code 2-1401 et seq....
BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judge: We granted appellees' petition for rehearing en banc to consider whether we should continue to follow the rule of Sullivan v. Flynn, 20 D.C. (9 Mackey) 396 (1892), that the contracts of mentally incapacitated persons are inherently void, or should instead join the majority of jurisdictions in deeming such contracts only voidable. The background is as follows. Appellant's predecessor-in-interest, 718 Associates, 1 appealed a decision by the trial...
REID, Senior Judge: These cases concern the rehabilitation and conversion into condominium units of rental apartments, located on Good Hope Road in the Southeast quadrant of the District of Columbia, and mortgage loans obtained for purchase of the condo units. After moving into their respective units, Joyce Saucier and ten other persons, plaintiffs/appellants, brought a lawsuit against Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. ("Countrywide") and Presidential Bank FSB ("Presidential"), defendants/appellees,...
FERREN, Senior Judge: Appellant Christine Cave challenges the trial court's denial of her request for attorney's fees after a successful petition for a civil protection order (CPO) against her husband, appellee Daniel Scheulov. Cave asserts that the trial court applied the incorrect standard, requiring that she prove the litigation was "oppressive or burdensome" as a "condition precedent to awarding counsel fees." We agree with Cave that no "condition precedent" factors must be resolved in her...
