Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The man charged with stabbing an American University alumnus on a Metro train on the Fourth of July will stay in jail until a competency test is done before his next court appearance in August.
The judge ordered the test for 18-year-old Jasper Spires after he smirked, smiled, laughed and even tried to interrupt during a preliminary hearing in D.C. District Court Friday.
“It appeared to him [the judge] that my client appeared to, at times, to act odd,” said defense attorney Antoini Jones. He wouldn’t say whether he personally thinks his client is competent to stand trial for murder.
The judge found there is a substantial probability that Spires viciously stabbed Kevin Sutherland to death on a Metro train ath the NOMA-Gallaudet U station as other passengers watched on in horror.
Sutherland’s cousin Anita McBride noticed Spires smiling throughout the hearing but could only guess as to what those smiles meant.
“Is that a defense mechanism for himself? Is that not understanding what is going on? Somebody else whose a professional will be able to determine that,” McBride told reporters after the hearing.
In the courtroom, the prosecution said a witness saw Spires approach Sutherland and try to grab his phone. Sutherland fought back before being punched and stabbed to death. At some point, Spires threw the phone at Sutherland. Detectives later found the phone smashed to pieces in the train.
The prosecution showed surveillance footage of a man they said is Spires running off the train where Sutherland’s body was found and then throwing a knife into a Metro garbage can. A DNA found Sutherland’s blood on the blade. D.C. Police homicide detective Gabriel Truby testified the handle has not yet been tested.
In an affidavit, a witness testified to seeing Spires drop a pair of camouflage pants and a backpack. That backpack, surrounded by spots of blood in the picture, had a health insurance card that belonged to Spires.
Two days before the stabbing, Spires was arrested for a separate robbery. He was released the morning of the stabbing. Jones said the clothes his client is wearing in the surveillance video from the police station where he was released are not the same clothes that witnesses said the attacker was wearing.
“None of the witnesses that were on the subway have identified my client as being the perpetrator,” Jones said.
Truby testified in court that a witness shown a photo array with a picture of Spires did not pick him out. The witness picked two other men out but wasn’t sure if either was the perpetrator.
Jones said the police officers who arrested his client were the only ones who identified Spires, but he believes they may have been unconsciously prejudice against him.
Spires will be back in court August 28. At that time, the results of the competency test will be revealed.
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