Tavon Barber v. United States

Summary

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Tavon Barber’s motion for a new trial based on post-trial disclosures concerning systematic problems in the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences’ statistical interpretations of DNA evidence. The court held that the disclosures were cumulative or impeaching, did not undermine the reliability of the DNA testing in Barber’s case, and would not probably have produced an acquittal in light of the other evidence. The court also held that Barber’s third-degree sexual abuse and possession-of-a-firearm-during-a-crime-of-violence convictions did not merge because each conviction was based on a distinct act.

Holdings

1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Barber's Rule 33 motion because the newly disclosed evidence was, at most, additional impeachment or cumulative evidence and would not probably have produced an acquittal.
2. The three third-degree sexual-abuse convictions did not merge because Barber's acts involved separate impulses and distinct invasions of the victim's protected interests.
3. The eight convictions for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence did not merge because each was predicated on a distinct criminal act, and the predicate offenses themselves did not merge.

Questions Presented

1. Whether post-trial disclosure of systematic concerns in DFS's statistical interpretations of DNA-mixture evidence required a new trial under Super. Ct. Crim. R. 33.
2. Whether Barber's three third-degree sexual-abuse convictions based on separate acts against one victim merged into a single conviction under the Double Jeopardy Clause.
3. Whether Barber's eight convictions for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence merged into fewer convictions.

Disposition

affirmed