Suspect in Transgender Assault Case Reprimanded
D.C. Superior Court judge warns Robinson after he fails to comply with release terms
A D.C. Superior Court judge this morning reprimanded Ahmad Robinson, accused of attacking a transgender woman in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood in August, for not complying with release terms. During the Feb. 22 hearing, Judge Rhonda Reid Winston also ordered the government to be more forthcoming in providing Robinson’s defense team with discovery, or evidence expected to be used at trial.
Judge Winston warned Robinson, of Silver Spring, this morning she will be forced to impose harsher release terms if he does not comply. Robinson, released on bond, was ordered to report to the court’s Pretrial Services Agency (PSA), continue with a drug-treatment program, submit to drug testing on a regular basis, and stay away from the victim in the case. But Robinson’s record of compliance has been spotty, even to the point where another presiding judge issued a bench warrant for Robinson’s arrest in November after he failed to appear for a status hearing. That warrant was voided three days later when Robinson presented himself before the court.
Winston also ordered the government to be more forthcoming with discovery with the defense, so that both sides can be ready to proceed to trial, which has been scheduled for March 27. The prosecution asked Winston last month to push the trial date to March, as it was not ready to proceed. Winston granted that request.
Under Winston’s new order, the government has until March 6 to present Robinson’s lawyer, Joseph Bernard, with evidence it intends to use in proving its case against Robinson.
According to charging documents, Robinson encountered the transgender woman in the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2012, asked her if she was female or male, and upon learning she was transgender, hit her with a closed fist. The victim then chased Robinson into a nearby Safeway store, where she lost track of him. Metropolitan Police Department officers, responding to reports of an assault in progress, encountered the victim, who told them what happened. An hour later, the victim spotted and positively identified Robinson, who was walking near the scene of the assault. MPD officers then arrested Robinson.
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