“Who’s on First? What’s on Second?”
It’s a feature of DC Superior Court, and perhaps with other jurisdictions for all we know, that judicial calendars rotate annually. Stick around these parts long enough and you get to see this play out more than once.
A year ago at this time, defense counsel and the government were...
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Both the government and defense picked up from where they left off at Wednesday’s motions’ hearing with the biggies still to be decided, including motions to suppress and sever.
The first witnesses were called today, even though the trial has not begun in earnest. Both teams were on their game today, and, in fact, approached the court as...
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Closing Night for Severance?
Early into last Friday’s status hearing we learned of a letter that Joe Price counsel Bernie Grimm had sent (also on behalf of his three defense team colleagues) to Judge Lynn Leibovitz.
Long described as one of the “great courtroom showmen,” DC’s very own George M. Cohan fired off this one-page letter on...
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Ethereal vs. Visceral
In the not to distant future, eight weeks from yesterday to be exact (assuming no continuance), Judge Lynn Leibovitz gavels in United States vs. Joseph Price, Dylan Ward, Victor Zaborsky
In yesterday’s post on the Government’s Opposition to the Defendants’ Joint Motion to Compel Rule 16(a)(1)(e) Disclosures, we got a clearer picture of what...
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Defendants Motion to Compel Discovery; Gov’t Replies: “Talk to the Hand”
It must be getting closer to May. Hardly a day passes without another shower of paper in the Robert Wone Case.
On Monday things got off to a big, fat 172-page start with the defense’s motion to compel outstanding discovery. If it seems like we’ve been...
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Uncharged Conduct, and Michael Price Uncharged…Yet
Hewing to Judge Lynn Leibovitz’ scheduling order, the prosecution has met their first deadline. The government’s filing of “Uncharged Conduct I” was due on February 5th and was made public Tuesday, Feb. 16th… just a few days after Valentine’s Day. This was no Whitman’s Sampler to the defendants.
“Given the...
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The January 15 Status Hearing
DC Superior Court’s steam-powered rule that prohibits TV coverage of hearings has long vexed both seasoned journalists and cub reporters alike.
Not dissuaded, and taking a cue from the rascals who are reenacting the Prop 8 proceedings in California (the federal civil trial concerning the legality of same sex marriage), we offer a similar...
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In Senseless Crimes, Sex Is Often The Motive
At trial, the of question ‘who did it?’ is bound intimately to its partner. ‘Why did they do it?’
“This is a head scratcher,” says noted homicide investigator Dallas Drake. No small remark from a man who’s seen thousands of murders. “The hardest type of case to solve...
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Judge Leibovitz Sets a Feverish Pace
Also hitting the DC Superior Court database in the wake of the January 15 status hearing was Judge Lynn Leibovitz’s granting IN PART of the Defendant’s Motion for Scheduling Order.
First up is a February 5 deadline for the government to have their Rule 16 notice, complete discovery and file...
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Judge Lynn Takes Ownership
The first indication that a new judge with a new way of doing things has taken the reins of the Wone case occurred just before the gavel fell on Friday. As always, we grabbed our seats early just as the bailiff unlocked the courtroom doors and waited for the customary “All rise,” that...
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On August 2nd, 2006, Washington attorney Robert E. Wone was murdered at 1509 Swann Street. Over two years passed before any criminal charges were filed - and then only conspiracy, obstruction of justice and crime scene tampering charges were brought against the Swann Street housemates, all present in the home on the night of the murder: Joe Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky.
On May 17, 2010, a DC Superior Court trial got underway and all three defendants were all acquitted in that bench trial on those pending charges.
Nearly four years later, very little seems clear about what happened that night and who murdered Robert Wone. A cloud of suspicion remains over the Swann Street defendants who have denied any involvement in the murder of their friend or in the alleged cover up.
Judge Lynn Leibovitz found a moral certainty in their collective guilt, but not evidentiary certainty. Civil proceedings in a wrongful death suit filed by Robert's family is the next chapter in this tragic story.
We continue to work together seeking answers to the mystery of Robert Wone's murder and in finding justice for his memory and legacy.
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