A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge this week sentenced a Virginia man to seven years in prison for stabbing and injuring a man in April in downtown Silver Spring, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
The case is regarded as the first time a defendant was convicted in a jury trial using video footage from a county police drone as evidence, the state’s attorney’s office said Thursday in a statement.
In November, a jury convicted Jovan Ali, 45, of Fairfax on one count of second-degree assault for the April 17 incident in which he stabbed the man at the intersection of Georgia and Sligo avenues, the statement said. The stabbing victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack and later underwent surgery, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The second-degree assault charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to a Nov. 1 joint press release from the state’s attorney’s office and the county police department. On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Harry Storm sentenced Ali to seven years in prison.
A county police officer witnessed the stabbing and the assault also was captured on video by a drone from the county police department’s Drone as a First Responder program. The program was launched more than a year ago with the goal of improving response times, providing information to officers and improving safety, according to police. It is currently in operation in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.
Paul Zmuda, Ali’s attorney, said Friday he was “sad to see” that Ali was sentenced to seven years in prison.
“Ali had a sad life. He’s been homeless for at least the last 12 years and so he’s either been out on the streets or in jail for a long period of time. I felt he’s had no family support. He’s had a tough time for the past two decades or so,” Zmuda said.
He noted Ali did have a “lengthy” criminal record, which he said attributed to a prison sentence that was closer to the maximum.
Drone video footage evidence
According to police, officers responded at about 7:31 p.m. on the night of the stabbing to the area of Georgia and Sligo avenues for the report of an assault. According to charging documents, a plain clothes officer witnessed Ali and other people at the scene involved in “an aggressive altercation.”
Police deployed a drone to the scene, which recorded the altercation as well as Ali stabbing the man.
On Nov. 1, police posted a shortened version of the video evidence online, which shows Ali and four other people in a park and Ali getting into an altercation with one man. Seconds later, Ali drops his backpack, pulls out a knife and stabs the man who had confronted him earlier. Another man at the scene then pushes Ali back to separate the two men, according to the video.
The drone records Ali as he picks up his backpack, crosses Sligo Avenue and walks along Georgia Avenue. After Ali crosses the six-lane road, two responding police officers run up toward Ali and apprehend him.
The video recording also shows an officer later rendering medical aid to the stabbing victim who was sitting in the park with blood splatters visible on the ground.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in the joint press release that the drone video evidence, used for the first time in a county criminal trial, was “critical.”
“We would not have been able to prove the defendant’s guilt without it,” McCarthy said. “The value of this technology is immeasurable when it comes to public safety. It is a game changer within the criminal justice system.”
Zmuda echoed McCarthy sentiment about the drone evidence, saying it is an “impressive tool” for police.
“I was actually a prosecutor for 12 years and would have loved to have had the drone as part of the evidence,” Zmuda said. “… Normally they would have to wait for a helicopter to come in. I’m sure that we’re going to start seeing drone footage rather than helicopter footage for people [charged with crimes].”
In general, Zmuda said he sees using drone technology as a tool that will bring more accuracy to the criminal justice process.
“It doesn’t capture any audio but it’s going to accurately reflect what happened, and, I think, take away a lot of the inconsistencies that you would get from eyewitness testimony,” Zmuda said. “Sometimes showing exactly what happened isn’t going to benefit criminal defendants, but it helps take away some of the problems that we see with eyewitness testimony.”
