Attorney for murder defendant obtains postponement of preliminary hearing

By Laura Berol
– 26 August 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Murder Cases | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun has granted a request by Oliver Gomes' attorney Sara Kopecki to postpone his preliminary hearing from August 23 to October 8 to give her time to prepare a response to the prosecution's evidence.

Gomes, 54, is charged with second-degree armed murder for allegedly taking part in the fatal beating of 61-year-old Thomas Gray on October 14, 2022, at the intersection of L Street and 11th Street, SE.

An autopsy found that the attack caused Gray's death on Nov. 3, 2022, court documents show.

According to court documents, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) found Gray unconscious on the sidewalk. A witness reported that an attacker struck Gray with a wooden board during an argument.

According to arrest records, Gray identified Gomes as his attacker to MPD detectives during an interview on October 19, 2022, at George Washington University Hospital.

At the hearing, Kopecki agreed that Gomes would allow the prosecutor's investigator to take a swab of his DNA at the preliminary hearing. Gomes has refused to allow the swab to be taken without his lawyer present.

The parties are expected to meet again on October 8.

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