A federal judge sharply criticized law enforcement after jurors in a Washington, D.C., armed robbery trial discovered physical evidence that police, the FBI and prosecutors had missed for three years.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote in a July 26 ruling that he shared the defendant's "amazement" at law enforcement's failure to uncover a Chinese yuan, a folded note and a powdery substance hidden in clothing admitted as evidence.
The discovery came during deliberations in the trial of Shamell Naquan Joyner, who was convicted on 13 of 28 counts tied to a string of armed robberies and a carjacking across Washington, Maryland and northern Virginia in the spring of 2023. The guilty verdicts carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 31 years.
What jurors found
On July 22, the second day of deliberations, a juror reached into the breast pocket of a jacket admitted as evidence and pulled out what appeared to be a folded piece of paper. The jury foreperson later described the moment to the court: "It looked like a receipt, but there was a white powder or white substance inside. Some of it, kind of, spilled out a little bit."
A second juror found a crumpled Chinese yuan bill inside the pocket of a Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt. Both items of clothing had been recovered from a stolen Toyota RAV4 that prosecutors said Joyner used.
Neither item had been identified, examined or disclosed by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. or Joyner's own defense team in the three years between the 2023 indictment and trial, according to WUSA9.
The finds were legally significant. One robbery victim had testified that the robber stole his wallet containing a Chinese yuan from a college study-abroad trip. A cooperating witness testified Joyner paid him in drugs the night of an alleged gas station robbery. The jacket with the suspected substance was the same one prosecutors said the robber wore.
Judge's response
Contreras brought each juror individually into the courtroom, instructed them the yuan and suspected drugs were not part of the admitted evidence, and asked whether they could set those items aside.
Every juror said yes.
He also retracted an earlier instruction that had allowed jurors to use facts from one count to determine intent on another, telling them they could not use evidence related to one count to establish that the defendant committed the allegations in another count.
Joyner's defense attorneys filed a motion for a mistrial. Contreras denied it July 26, writing that the yuan and Steelers sweatshirt already linked Joyner to the robbery before the jury's discovery.
Verdict and what's next
The monthlong trial included 10 days of testimony and a week of deliberations. Joyner had as many as nine defense lawyers; three prosecutors handled the government's case. The jury convicted Joyner on counts covering an armed robbery in mid-April 2023 in downtown Washington and four armed robberies and a carjacking on May 2, 2023, in Northwest Washington and Maryland.
The jury deadlocked on 15 remaining counts, including five alleged armed robberies and one carjacking.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said the verdict ensures Joyner will face a 31-year mandatory minimum sentence and called him a serial robber whose conviction makes the community safer. The office did not directly answer questions about how the evidence oversight occurred, CNN reported.
The FBI declined to comment on how agents missed the items. Joyner's defense attorneys have not yet appealed and declined to comment, citing that a final judgment has not been issued. A sentencing date has not been announced.
