Local
Sexual assault may be dropped in Wone murder case
The lead prosecutor in the Robert Wone murder case startled courtroom spectators last
The lead prosecutor in the Robert Wone murder case startled courtroom spectators last week when he said the government would likely drop its theory that Wone was immobilized by a paralytic drug and sexually assaulted before being stabbed to death in the Dupont Circle home of three gay men.
The disclosure by Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner at a D.C. Superior Court hearing March 12 drew visible sighs of relief from defendants Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward. Price gave a thumbs-up signal to his attorney, Bernard Grimm.
“This appears to be a major victory for the defense,” said D.C. attorney Dale Sanders, who practices criminal law in the District.
Sanders said that by withdrawing its earlier contention that Wone was sexually assaulted and drugged, prosecutors would make it easier for the defense to promote their own contention that an unidentified intruder killed Wone after entering the home of the three gay men through a rear door.
The men have been indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and evidence tampering in connection with the August 2006 murder. Authorities have yet to charge anyone with the murder itself. The trial is scheduled to begin May 10.
Kirschner told D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz that prosecutors were still considering introducing other evidence at trial considered highly controversial: a collection of S&M sex toys seized by police from Ward’s bedroom, which prosecutors have said was located across the hall from where Wone was found stabbed in a second-floor guest bedroom.
Wone, a prominent Washington attorney, was friends with the three men and spending the night at their home after working late in his downtown office, the men and members of Wone’s family have said. Wone was married to a woman, and his family members said he was straight.
Leibovitz said she had yet to see sufficient evidence presented by prosecutors to justify the introduction of the “devices” at trial. She noted that defense attorneys presented arguments as to why such evidence was not relevant to the case and how it would be prejudicial to the jury.
She directed prosecutors to file a motion before April 2 explaining their rationale for introducing such evidence and said she would rule on its admissibility at that time.
Leibovitz denied a motion by the defense asking the court to order prosecutors to release more details surrounding their evidence and theories in the case, saying the government has complied with all “discovery” requirements for informing the defense of its evidence.
Last week’s hearing followed a court motion filed by prosecutors in February seeking permission to introduce evidence at trial that Price, Zaborsky and Ward engaged in possible criminal conduct not identified in the charges pending against them. Some of the alleged conduct cited in the court filing pertained to the use of S&M-related restraining devices as well as devices used to administer electrical shocks to a person’s genitals.
“Are you planning to tell the jury that he was sexually assaulted, restrained,” that sex toys were used on him and he was injected with something? Leibovitz asked Kirschner.
“We’re moving away from the sexual assault proof,” Kirschner replied. But he said prosecutors still planned to offer some evidence that “restraints” were found in Ward’s bedroom.
In response to another assertion made by prosecutors in their February court filing — that “the killer is someone known to and being protected” by Price, Zaborsky and Ward — Leibovitz asked Kirschner, ” Do you plan to say one or all of these men killed Wone?”
“Not directly,” Kirschner replied.
He said prosecutors also plan to present evidence from the autopsy of needle marks on Wone’s body, including marks he noted the government’s medical experts would show were not made by emergency medical technicians who arrived at the scene and tried to revive Wone.
Kirschner disclosed at the hearing that he had submitted a letter to the defense earlier in the day, which he also filed with the court, saying that the government obtained new information from medical experts that appeared to raise doubts over whether Wone had been sexually assaulted or immobilized by a paralytic drug.
Authorities first raised that theory in a lengthy criminal complaint filed at the time police brought criminal charges against the three men for obstruction of justice and evidence tampering.
The complaint cited an autopsy finding showing that Wone suffered three surgical-like, clean stab wounds in the chest and abdomen that could only have occurred if he were lying completely still. The complaint, and subsequent arguments by prosecutors, claimed that a person being stabbed would be expected to recoil in pain or move in a defensive way, causing the wounds to be jagged or distorted.
Prosecutors said a paralytic drug must have been administered to Wone to render him immobile, but they acknowledged that the autopsy and subsequent chemical tests could not find traces of such a drug in Wone’s body. They argued that the type of anesthesia-like drug in question usually dissipates quickly and cannot be detected in tests.
But defense attorneys say in their own court filings that they would present expert witnesses to show that such drugs are detectable in tests, and the government’s inability to detect such a drug shows it was never administered.
According to prosecutors, the sexual assault theory was based on another finding in the autopsy that traces of Wone’s semen were found inside his rectum. The defense later argued that its own experts would show that the semen had no sperm cells, indicating it was secreted naturally by the body after Wone died, as muscles relax during the post mortem processes.
Sanders said that although the apparent decision by prosecutors to put aside their earlier sexual assault and paralytic drug theory is a blow to the prosecutors’ case, other evidence obtained against the three men remains significant and strong.
He noted, among other things, that investigators found traces of blood in the lint trap of the men’s clothes dryer and in a drain outside the house; findings by evidence technicians that someone cleaned the crime scene by attempting to wipe blood spattered near the body; and that the bloody kitchen knife that the men said they found near Wone’s body bore fibers from a towel, indicating to evidence experts that Wone’s blood was wiped onto knife blade by someone, with another knife likely used to kill Wone.
Authorities also have said Wone appeared to have been dead a significant period of time before Zaborsky called 911 to report a stabbing; and rescue workers reported finding very little blood on Wone’s chest and body, indicating that someone cleaned the body before police and rescue workers were called, according to the police affidavit.
“They won this battle, but the war doesn’t look good for them,” Sanders said. “You can’t lose track of the big picture, which doesn’t look good for these guys.”
Virginia
Prominent activists join ‘Living History’ panel at Freddie’s Beach Bar
Event organized by owner of new Friends of Dorothy Café in Alexandria
Six prominent LGBTQ community leaders and elders, including a beloved drag performer, talked about their role in advancing the rights of LGBTQ people and their thoughts on how the upcoming generation of LGBTQ youth should get ready to join the movement participated in an April 23 “Living History” panel discussion at Freddie’s Beach Bar.
The event was organized by Dorothy Edwards, who plans to open Friends of Dorothy Café in Alexandria. She said the café will be an LGBTQ community “intergenerational space” that will host events like the one she organized at Freddie’s Beach Bar.
“It will be a space for connection, storytelling, and belonging, especially for LGBTQ+ youth and community members who don’t always have places like that,” she said in a statement announcing the event at Freddie’s.
The six panelists at the Freddie’s event included Kierra Johnson, president of the D.C.-based National LGBTQ Task Force; Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s Beach Bar located in the Crystal City section of Arlington, Va.; Donnell Robinson, who for many years performed in drag as the icon Ella Fitzgerald; Taylor Chandler Walker, a local transgender rights advocate, author and public speaker; Heidi Ellis, coordinator of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; and Leti Gomez, an LGBTQ Latino community advocate and chair of the board of the American LGBTQ+ Museum.
Dr. Ashley Elliott, an LGBTQ community advocate and clinician who also goes by the name Dr. Vivid, served as moderator of the panel discussion, asking each of the panelists a serious of questions before opening the event to questions from the audience.
Among the issues discussed by the panelists was who was “centered” and who was excluded in the earlier years of LGBTQ organizing. Elliot also asked the panelists to address topics such as racism within queer spaces, gender dynamics, and strategies for coalition building between the LGBTQ community and other movements, including civil rights, feminism, and immigrant rights.
Each of the panelists expressed various thoughts on how the LGBTQ rights movement can make changes in response to the questions: “What can we do better?” and “Who is being left out?”
“I’m overwhelmed and so thankful that everyone on this panel said yes and agreed to come,” Edwards told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think every one of those people, including the moderator, was so brilliant and has done such good work for this community,” she said.
Edwards noted that each of the panelists, who have been involved in LGBTQ advocacy work for many years, talked about how they interact with younger LGBTQ people who are just beginning to become involved in activism.
“Truly, it’s an intergenerational conversation, and their wisdom and their words and their experiences can be disseminated to younger generations and people who want to do this work, people who want to fight for our community,” Edwards said.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Lutz said. “I thought it was a good turnout, and everybody was very enthusiastic and engaged,” he said. “And I think it was great and fabulous.”
Lutz has operated Freddie’s Beach Bar for more than 25 years and has hosted numerous LGBTQ events. A sign above the front entrance door to the popular LGBTQ bar and restaurant says, “Straight Friendly Gay Bar.”
Peters said the April 23 event was recorded and she will make arrangements for the recording to be released for others to view it. The Blade will post the link in this story when it becomes available.
District of Columbia
Second trans member announces plans to resign from Capital Pride board
Zion Peters cites ‘lack of interest in the Black trans community’
Zion Peters, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors who identifies as transgender, told the Washington Blade he plans to resign from the board “due to the lack of interest in the trans community, specifically the Black trans community.”
Peters continued, “Nobody has checked on me in the last two months so that shows their level of unprofessionalism towards their board members and the community as a whole.”
If he resigns, Peters would be the second known trans person to resign from the Capital Pride board since February, when longtime trans activist Taylor Lianne Chandler informed the board of her resignation in a detailed letter that was sent to the Blade by an anonymous source.
Chandler, who served as chair of the Capital Pride Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee, stated in her Feb. 24 letter that she resigned from the board out of frustration that the board had failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization. The organization’s and the board’s transgender-related policies were not cited in her letter as a reason for her resignation.
The Blade learned of Peters’s plans to resign from an anonymous source who thought Peters had already resigned along with four other board members identified by the anonymous source. The others, who Capital Pride confirmed this week had resigned, include Anthony Musa, Bob Gilchrist, Kaniya Walker, and Dai Nguyen.
Musa and Gilchrist told the Blade they resigned for personal reasons related to their jobs and that they fully support Capital Pride’s work as an organization that coordinates the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
The Blade has been unable to reach Walker and Nguyen to determine their reasons for resigning.
Capital Pride CEO Ryan Bos and Board Chair Anna Jinkerson didn’t respond to a Blade question asking if they knew why Walker or Nguyen resigned.
In response to a request by the Blade for comment on the resignations and the concern raised by Zion Peters about trans-related issues, Bos and Jinkerson sent separate statements elaborating on the organization and the board’s position on various issues.
“We can confirm that the individuals you referenced, except for Zion, no longer serve on the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors,” Jinkerson said in her statement.
She added that following the WorldPride festival hosted by D.C. last May and June that was organized by Capital Pride Alliance, the group anticipated a “significant level of board transition,” with many board members reaching the end of their terms. But she said many board members chose to extend their service or apply for an additional term, showing a “powerful reflection of commitment.”
Without commenting on the specific reasons for the resignations of Peterson, Walker, and Nygun, Jinkerson noted, “As with all volunteer leadership roles, transitions occur for a range of personal and professional reasons, and we appreciate those transitions with both understanding and gratitude.”
In his own statement, Bos addressed Capital Pride’s record on transgender issues.
“The Capital Pride Alliance is committed to supporting and uplifting the Trans community through our work with the Trans Coalition under the Diversity of Prides Initiative, our partnership with Earline Budd on the LGBTQ+ Burial Fund with a focus on our Trans siblings, our collaboration with the National Trans Visibility March, and our ongoing investment in programming for Transgender Day of Visibility and Transgender Day of Remembrance,” Bos said in his statement.
“We also recognize there is always continued work to be done, and we always welcome feedback from our community to ensure our commitment remains unwavering,” he said.
At the time of her resignation in February, Chandler said she could not provide specific details of the instances of sexual misconduct to which she referred in her resignation letter, or who allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct, saying she and all other board members had signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement preventing them from disclosing further details.
Board Chair Jinkerson in a statement released at that time said she and the board were aware of Chandler’s concerns but did not specifically address allegations of sexual misconduct.
“When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said. “As we continue to grow as an organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” she said.
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Summer Kickoff Party set for May 15 with Ashley Biden
The Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for Friday, May 15 in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, has joined the list of speakers, the Blade announced. She will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau Biden for his LGBTQ advocacy work as Delaware attorney general. (Her appearance was rescheduled from last year.)
The event, to be held this year at Diego’s (37298 Rehoboth Ave. Ext.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient will be introduced at the event.
The event will also feature remarks from state Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall. New CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Dr. Robin Brennan and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Diego’s.
A suggested donation of $25 is partially tax deductible and includes a drink ticket and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door.
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