The judge presiding over a pre-trial hearing in a pending murder case gave prosecutors and lawyers for the defense until June 2 to set a date to argue the admissibility of an expert witness. Defendant Dion Johnson is charged with the fatal shooting of a man cleaning streets after the Carnival Parade on April 29, 2023.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin July 28. The defendant sat in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Denise Francois listening quietly. Small groups of spectators joined the hearing; some waiting for their pre-trial hearings to be called. About half a dozen people left as the Johnson hearing wrapped up.
Public Defender Frederick Johnson and Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Weddle were asked to consider dates in mid-July after the court returns from some scheduled time off. The preceding — called a Daubert Hearing — was previously scheduled and postponed.
According to information found at Cornell University’s Law School website, a Daubert Hearing is used by judges to determine if expert witness testimony can be used in a trial
The judge said she’d prefer to keep the date for jury selection in place but could also set a hearing date for early August, but doing so would force a postponement for the trial.
Weddle declined to comment about the nature of the next hearing, directing questions to the Justice Department’s chief of the Criminal Division. Johnson’s lawyer was more forthcoming, saying he meant to challenge the government’s assertion that bullet casings found near the body of Public Works employee Alrick Thomas could be matched to the gun recovered from his client.
If found guilty at trial of first-degree murder, Johnson faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
