New allegations of prosecutorial misconduct have surfaced involving the prosecution of one of the most notorious gangs in District of Columbia history.
Eleven years ago, a federal jury in Washington convicted Kevin Gray and Rodney Moore of multiple counts of murder, drug distribution and racketeering. The two were accused of running a violent criminal enterprise referred to by prosecutors as Murder Inc.
Over the past year, lawyers for Gray, Moore and four of their co-defendants filed motions for a new trial, claiming they uncovered evidence that prosecutors paid witnesses and deliberately housed witnesses together, giving them an opportunity to collude on their testimony. The motions also included claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and other problems with how prosecutors handled the case.
Gray, Moore and two of their co-defendants—Lionel Nunn and Timothy Handy—filed petitions in June 2013 asking a judge to set aside their sentences and grant a new trial. The other two defendants, Calvin Smith and John Raynor, filed similar motions yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
All six co-defendants appealed their convictions after the trial, in large part unsuccessfully. The U.S. Supreme Court heard Smith and Raynor's case, but ultimately affirmed the convictions in January 2013. The six were all sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors argued for the death penalty for Gray and Moore, but the jury deadlocked. Gray was convicted of 19 murders, which was reported at the time as the most of any defendant ever tried in the District.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment. Prosecutors have yet to file court papers responding to the new petitions.
The case is before U.S. District Senior Judge Royce Lamberth.
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