In an unexpected turn during his trial, a man charged with a series of robberies in the D.C. area found his case shaken by crucial evidence that had slipped past authorities for years, only to be discovered by the jurors.
WASHINGTON — In 2023, a D.C. resident accused of a string of armed robberies and carjackings was found guilty on several counts. The trial took an unexpected direction when one juror uncovered what prosecutors and police had overlooked: a Chinese yuan and a mysterious white powder.
The legal battle against Shamell Naquan Joyner began with an indictment by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. Joyner faced allegations of holding up a Falcon Fuel gas station and two 7-Eleven stores, in addition to stealing a RAV4, resulting in an 18-count indictment in 2023.
Despite thorough investigations involving the FBI, prosecutors, and Joyner’s defense team over the last three years, none had previously identified the foreign currency and white substance hidden within clothing submitted as evidence.
In a Memorandum Opinion, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras acknowledged the oversight, expressing that the court shared Mr. Joyner’s disbelief at law enforcement’s failure to detect the Chinese Yuan, note, and powdery item among the physical evidence. The judge dismissed motions for a mistrial by Joyner in that opinion.
The jurors finding the new physical evidence during July 23 deliberations created a problem.
The jury already heard about the Chinese currency after a witness said that he was robbed by a man wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hoodie. The victim said he had a Chinese yuan in his wallet that he got while studying abroad his freshman year, according to court documents.
The jurors found the yuan in the Steelers sweatshirt, and the sweatshirt was found in the stolen RAV4, according to court documents.
“The Yuan and Steelers sweatshirt helped link Mr. Joyner to that robbery, and the jury’s discovery of an additional Yuan in the Steelers sweatshirt did not alter that established link,” wrote Contreras.
The legal problem began with the white powder.
A cooperating witness, meaning someone who got a deal to testify against Joyner, said that Joyner paid him in “boot,” which is a term for a type of drug, to help rob a gas station, according to court documents.
The jury saw no other evidence and heard no testimony associating Joyner with drugs until they found the white powder in a Post-it note in the two-toned jacket, wrote Contreras. The white powder became physical evidence linking Joyner to the drug allegations, but it was never officially presented in court.
Contreras first told the jury not to infer criminality based on one count to determine another, but jurors could consider facts alleged in one count while considering another for purposes of determining intent.
Contreras later retracted that instruction:
“Upon further reflection, [I am] going to revoke one of the prior instructions I gave you, which was the one about using information in one count to determine intent on another. … I am striking that previous instruction and you are not to follow it. Instead, the answer to the question is no. You may not use the evidence related to one count to establish that defendant committed the [allegations] in another count.”
Every juror was asked if they had seen the new evidence and could be impartial. Each one said yes, according to court documents.
After being found guilty, Joyner’s attorney asked for a mistrial, which Contreras denied on July 26, court documents showed.
Joyner’s attorney could still appeal that decision.
Other than the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. (USAO-DC), the following organizations were involved in the indictment against Joyner, according to a press release from USAO-DC sent to WUSA9 in 2023:
- FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- Alexandria City Police Department
- Anne Arundel County Police Department
- Fairfax County Police Department
- Prince George’s County Police Department
The case was prosecuted by USAO-DC Attorneys Paul Courtney and Justin Song.
WUSA9 reached out to USAO-DC and the FBI for comment but received no response as of the time of publication.