B4 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 , 2019
after their mistakes were cleared
up.
The elections department said
Freitas h ad f ailed t o file additional
paperwork that made his situa-
tion different. Freitas’s local Re-
publican legislative committee
never submitted a required form
indicating that Freitas was the
party’s nominee. And Freitas
failed to submit another form,
which he personally should have
filed a s a candidate, the s tate said.
Democrat Ann Ridgeway, a for-
mer teacher and juvenile proba-
tion officer, is now alone on the
ballot.
[email protected]Laura Vozzella contributed to this
report.Freitas to qualify for the ballot.
Two other candidates across the
state — a Republican and a Demo-
crat — also filed paperwork late,
but were both allowed to qualifyBY GREGORY S. SCHNEIDERrichmond — Virginia’s board of
elections has ruled that Del. Nich-
olas J. F reitas ( R-Culpeper) did n ot
qualify for the ballot this fall, up-
holding a finding from elections
department staffers.
The ruling amounts to an un-
forced e rror for s tate R epublicans,
who are s crambling to protect n ar-
row majorities in the legislature
with all 140 seats on t he ballot this
November.
Republicans hold a 51-to-48
edge in the House and a 20-to-19
advantage in the Senate, with one
vacancy in each c hamber.
Freitas’s largely rural district in
Orange, Madison and Culpeper
counties has been safely red, but
his predicament creates a hurdle
for h olding the s eat.
The former Green Beret first
won the seat in 2015, and unsuc-
cessfully sought the GOP nomina-
tion to challenge U. S. Sen. Tim
Kaine (D-Va.) in e lections last year.
Freitas can now either file a
lawsuit challenging the s tate’s r ul-
ing or r un a s a write-in c andidate.
The slip-up came a fter t he state
elections department said it did
not receive paperwork in time for
dealer who walked away from
Hope Village in December was
sentenced to 15 months in prison
— one of dozens of people who
received felony convictions after
failing to report to or escaping
from the facility s ince 2 017.
Arguments for a local halfway
house and Hope Village’s check-
ered history did not sway t he opin-
ions of several Ward 5 residents
opposed to having former inmates
housed steps from the National
Arboretum. In December, a dozen
of them sued the District, saying
zoning regulations that could al-
low a halfway house on New York
Avenue were “defective.” One of
McDuffie’s letters challenging
Core was included as an exhibit.
Though the suit was later with-
drawn, Pierre Hines, one of the
plaintiffs, said he was surprised to
learn of McDuffie’s reversal, add-
ing that it could affect the federal
selection p rocess and give Core an
advantage.
“The verdict is still out on the
key issue: whether Core or any
other company can identify a suit-
able facility to house hundreds of
men and properly staff it to deal
with security issues that will un-
doubtedly arise,” he said. “The
devil is in the details, and I look
forwarding to seeing them.”
pe [email protected]
[email protected]A Bureau of Prisons official de-
clined to comment on the f uture of
the contract or whether Hope Vil-
lage — which already is operating
on a six-month c ontract extension
— would receive another exten-
sion if a new halfway house is not
ready b y the end o f October.
Core CEO Jack Brown said in a
statement the firm was “grateful
to the residents of the District for
the opportunity to share our vi-
sion for helping the formerly in-
carcerated become productive
members of their communities.
Our ongoing conversations with
residents and community leaders
have been encouraging.”
Hope Village representatives
did not respond to requests for
comment.
Hope Village has won more
than $125 million in federal con-
tracts since 2006 but has long
been criticized by inmates and
advocates who say it offers sub-
standard care.
In 2016, the Council for Court
Excellence, a nonprofit that advo-
cates for improvements to the
city’s criminal justice system,
faulted the facility for security
problems and failing to help resi-
dents secure employment.
Hope Village has also b een criti-
cized for its frequent resident es-
capes. L ast week, D.C. prosecutors
announced that a convicted drughouse for men in the District
would “severely harm our resi-
dents.” He added that “we cannot
lose the opportunity to have the
deep supports that the District’s
returning citizens have been ask-
ing for and needing for so many
years.”
District Deputy Mayor for Pub-
lic Safety Kevin Donahue said in a
statement to The Washington Post
that the administration of Mayor
Muriel E. Bowser ( D) supports t hecontinued presence of a halfway
house in the District. Donahue
stopped short of expressing sup-
port for the Core contract.
“For months, we have urged the
U.S. Bureau of Prisons to work
transparently and collaboratively
with District residents and return-
ing citizens advocates in identify-
ing suitable locations for a new
halfway house,” Donahue said.
“The District’s public safety is bet-
ter served if its returning citizens
can utilize a halfway h ouse located
within the c ity.”He said in an interview that
Core had assuaged his concerns
about its outreach to local officials
and residents. He said he toured a
Core facility in New York, and the
group had a lso held meetings with
Ward 5 residents.
“They’ve engaged extensively
with residents throughout the
District of Columbia and in
Ward 5,” McDuffie said. “They’ve
answered some of the hard ques-
tions about their company, their
experience, some of the services
they’ve previously provided.”
He said his most recent letter
was not an endorsement of Core
but was intended to alert federal
officials that he no l onger opposed
the n onprofit’s c ontract.
McDuffie said he did not know
whether Jemal was reconsidering
a lease for Core at the New York
Avenue location. He said he had
not asked Jemal to back out of a
letter of intent to lease to Core or
had other discussions with Jemal
before the developer decided not
to move ahead w ith the deal.
McDuffie said Jemal did not
respond to an email he sent last
month notifying him that he no
longer opposed the Core contract.
Last week, council member
Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large)
sent his own letter to Bureau of
Prisons acting d irector Hugh Hur-
witz, saying the loss of a halfwaydeveloper has supported expand-
ing opportunities for ex-offenders.
“This is going to be catastrophic
for our community and society,”
Moten said. “Because if you have
people come home and they have
to go to Delaware and Baltimore,
they’re almost certainly going to
reoffend, and they’re going to go
back to prison.”
A force behind the anti-gentrifi-
cation “Don’t Mute DC” move-
ment, Moten organized a rally
Thursday in support of the pro-
posed Core halfway house featur-
ing several go-go bands.
In a phone interview, Jemal re-
fused to discuss the situation at
3400 New York Ave. or say wheth-
er he was reconsidering a lease for
Core. He has not stated publicly
why he abandoned the agreement
with Core.
A separate halfway house for
about 40 women, at the eastern
end of the H Street Corridor in
Northeast Washington, won’t be
affected by decisions involving
Core a nd Hope Village.
McDuffie — a former Justice
Department civil rights attorney
who has e mphasized c riminal jus-
tice reform during seven years on
the c ouncil — wrote a l etter July 26
withdrawing his objection to the
proposed h alfway house.
REENTRY FROM B1
Neighbors and developer among obstacles for D.C. halfway house
BY PETER HERMANNA man arrested in last week’s
shooting in the Third Street
Tunnel in the District is said to
have fired a single shot, striking
the driver of a gold-colored SUV
that had rear-ended his sedan,
possibly leaving the victim para-
lyzed, according t o new details in
court filings.
Authorities identified the sus-
pect as Daquan A. Brooks, 21, of
no fixed address, and said he is
charged with assault with intent
to kill. Brooks’s first name is also
written as Daquon in court docu-
ments. Police arrested Brooks on
Monday evening.
In addition to charging him
with the Third Street Tunnel
shooting, police said Tuesday
that they linked a bullet casing
found during the i nvestigation o f
the tunnel attack to an unrelated
shooting that injured two people
earlier this month in Northeast
Washington. Brooks has been
charged with assault with a dan-
gerous weapon in that earlier
case.
A Superior Court judge on
Tuesday ordered Brooks de-
tained until his next hearing,
Sept. 4. His attorney with the
Public Defender Service did not
respond to an interview request.
The details outlined in an
arrest affidavit filed i n D.C. Supe-
rior Court say the tunnel shoot-
ing appeared to stem from a
traffic crash involving strangers
on the busy commuter route of
Interstate 395 on the afternoon
of July 30.
Police said a sedan, now iden-
tified as a 2015 Nissan Sentra
driven by Brooks, was rear-end-
ed by the SUV in the northbound
lanes at the exit for Massachu-
setts Avenue, a few blocks from
Union Station in Northwest
Washington.
In the affidavit, police said a
female passenger in the Nissan
got out and, while cursing, con-
fronted t he driver of the Explorer
as he sat behind the wheel.
Court documents state the
that woman thought the driver
of the Explorer was trying to
drive away.
Police said her male compan-
ion got out of the driver’s seat,
walked up to the Explorer and
shot the driver who still was in
the vehicle as he and the woman
exchanged words.
The pair of people from the
Nissan got back into their car
and drove off, police said.
The injured man was taken to
a hospital. Court documents say
he is “likely to be paralyzed.” His
relatives have declined interview
requests.
A police commander had ini-
tially said that the man had
exited the vehicle before he was
shot; police now say he was shot
inside it.
Within hours, police pub-
lished a picture of the Nissan’s
damaged back end. Investigators
said Tuesday that information
from witnesses, surveillance vid-
eo and other t echniques l ed them
to the Nissan, which authorities
said is registered to the female
passenger, who lives in Capitol
Heights, in Prince George’s
County. Police said the Nissan
was parked at that address, with
a car cover draped over the
trunk.
Police said that while search-
ing the residence, they found a
bullet casing linked to a July 15
double shooting in the Benning
Ridge neighborhood of North-
east Washington. In that case,
police said, the victims, who
were not seriously injured, were
a woman and a man identified as
the boyfriend of Brooks’s ex-girl-
friend.
Police also had been seeking
Brooks on two outstanding ar-
rest warrants, one charging him
with threatening his mother in
April and another charging him
with trying to hit his mother and
threatening his sister in 2018.
Those charges are pending.
Brooks pleaded guilty to as-
sault with a dangerous weapon
for slamming his mother’s head
into a sink in 2017 and threaten-
ing to cut her with a knife,
according to court documents,
which also state that Brooks
pointed a gun at h er and told her,
“I will shoot you,” t hen left.
A Superior Court judge sen-
tenced Brooks to two years in
prison but suspended the term,
court files show.
[email protected]THE DISTRICTIntent-to-
kill charge
in tunnel
shooting
Police arrest suspect, link
him to another shootingVIRGINIA
Delegate did
not qualify
for ballot,
board rules
STEVE HELBER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Del. Nicholas F. Freitas (R-Culpeper), speaks on the House floor in
Richmond in 2018. He now must sue or run as a write-in candidate.“The verdict is still out
on the key issue.”
Pierre Hines, one of the Ward 5
residents who sued over the proposalBY PAUL DUGGANA Catholic priest on trial for
alleged child sexual abuse involv-
ing two female parishioners lis-
tened in D.C. Superior Court on
Tuesday as a third young church
member described getting an un-
wanted kiss on the mouth from
him when she was 16.
“It felt embarrassing because
he’s much older than I am,” the
woman, now 20, said on the wit-
ness stand as testimony began in
the trial of Urbano Vazquez, 47, a
former assistant pastor at the
Shrine of the Sacred Heart church
in Northwest Washington. She
called the alleged incident “un-
comfortable” and said it left her
“confused.”
Vazquez, who was ordained a
priest in the Capuchin Franciscan
religious order in 2014, is not on
trial in connection with the al-
leged kiss. He i s charged with four
felony counts of second-degree
child sexual abuse and one misde-
meanor count of child sexual
abuse. He is accused of groping a
13-year-old girl and kissing and
groping a 9-year-old girl at the
church in 2016.
The Washington Post generally
does not identify victims of al-
leged sexual offenses without
their consent.
The woman who testified Mon-
day told the jury that she, her
mother and Vazquez were about
to eat lunch in a church dining
room one Sunday in May 2015
when her mother left the room to
get plates and utensils.
“We were having a conversa-
tion,” the woman said of herself
and Vazquez, “and in the middle
of the conversation... he put his
hands on my shoulders and
opened his mouth and kissed me.”She said her mother returned to
the room in time to see what was
happening, and Vazquez pulled
away, saying, “I’m sorry. I don’t
know what came over me.”
Later that day, she testified,
Vazquez apologized to her and
her mother. She said they did not
report the alleged incident to po-
lice until last year, after Vazquez’s
alleged sexual abuse of the other
girls came to light.
She said she was “too scared” t o
file a police complaint. “I didn’t
want anybody to talk badly about
me or my family at the church,”
she said. After the apology, she
said, Vazquez “didn’t c hat with my
family as much as he did before.... He became very distant.”
Earlier Tuesday, in his opening
statement to the jury, Assistant
U.S. Attorney J. Matt Williams
urged the panel to focus on the
concept of “trust.”
“Coaches, teachers, clergy
members, to whom trust is given
as a gift,” he said. Gesturing to
Vazquez, he said, “This man...
violated that sacred trust.”
Defense attorney Robert Bon-
sib, in his opening statement, sug-
gested the alleged victims fabri-
cated their stories. He told jurors
that the alleged incidents oc-
curred in open areas of the church
and rectory at times when people
were around who could easily
have seen what was happening.
“Some of this stuff, frankly,
doesn’t make sense,” he said, add-
ing that the allegations do not
“even meet the common-sense
test.”
The alleged victim who was 13
in 2016 was with other youngsters
selling snow cones outside the
church, which sits close to 16th
Street NW and Park Road. After-
ward, Williams said, the girl was
resting in a church office, sitting
in a swivel chair, when Vazquez
walked in.
After striking up a conversa-
tion with the girl, he “crept closer
and closer and closer,” the pros-
ecutor said. He s aid Vazquez slid a
hand under her shirt and groped
one of her breasts. “She froze,”
then swiveled away f rom him, but
he groped her again, Williams
told the jury. L ater, she hurried to
a bathroom and cried, the pros-
ecutor said.
[email protected]
THE DISTRICTTrial starts
for priest
accused of
sex abuse
MHIC #125450 | DC # 67004 413 | VA # 2705 10883 5A | WVA #03 6832Transform your Kitchen with
the Look of New Cabinets
Available in a variety of panel
styles, colors and wood grainsDon't Replace...REFACE!Sa
veThousandsComplete Financing
Available Now
Get a FREE Customized
Quote Today$500 Off
Ca binet Refacing
Some restrictions may
apply. Limited time offer.20 2-741-4433 DC30 1-850- 4372 MD70 3-258-1758 VADefeat The Heat! Being Cold Gets Old!INSULATION SALEInstalling Multilayer Foil Attic Insulation, Blown Insulation and
Air Sealing Can Have an Immediate Impact on Your Energy Bill!Hot House? Too Hot To Sleep?
Summertime is here!Monthly payments
as low as $59!
with approved credit.
Minimum purchases
of $4,000.
Offer expires
8-31-19202-996-3586 DC301-264-8482 MD703-594-7808 VA
VA #270 502945 6A | MHIC #4674 4 | DC # 67000878 | NC #7 7474***Attics Only - We Do Not Do Crawl Spaces***FREE
a $ 30 0 value
12-point Home Energy
Loss Analysis