Lawyer at murder trial alleges ‘criminal activity’ in lab at Charlotte police department

Within minutes of taking over for a defendant representing himself in a Charlotte murder trial, a lawyer questioned prosecutors’ DNA evidence and alleged “possible criminal activity” in the police department’s lab.

Derek Ward, who is charged with murdering and raping his cousin , Brittini Ward, in May 2010, has until now been found mentally unfit to stand trial. Last week, after being in jail for 14 years, he chose to represent himself against charges that could sentence him to life in prison.

But on Monday, he asked Mecklenburg Assistant Public Defender Michael Kabakoff to take over before cross examining Aby Moeykens, a DNA analyst at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Crime Lab.

Moeykens said in court that Ward was a “possible contributor” to the DNA collected from Brittini’s body.

Kabakoff quickly brought up concerns over the integrity of CMPD’s Crime Lab. In March, Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather announced that the lab was under investigation for “procedural irregularities.”

In court, Kabakoff revealed for the first time publicly that a DNA analyst who started working in that lab in 2016 was altering control DNA profiles, which are used to test the accuracy of DNA analysis.

Moeykens confirmed an employee remains under investigation for allegedly altering samples to make a DNA profile appear when the employee was there previously.

But Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorneys Nikki Robinson and Kimberly Gardner objected to Kabakoff’s questions, saying the employee under investigation was never involved in Ward’s case.

CMPD and the DA’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.

Chief Superior Court Judge Carla Archie removed the jury from the courtroom while Kabakoff questioned Moeykens.

Fit to stand trial?

Last week, on the second day of the trial, Kabakoff gave Archie 14 pages of notes detailing his jail visits with Ward.

Kabakoff argued Ward was suffering from his mental illness again. Ward previously said he would “slay everyone in court” if he is acquitted, told Kabakoff there was a “poltergeist” in the courtroom and said he thought a potential juror was in the Illuminati, according to the notes.

Archie maintained that Ward was fit to stand trial. He understood the charges he faced and repercussions he could face if found guilty, she said.

He also understood the risks of representing himself, she said, noting Kabakoff’s entry about Ward asking for his business card to make a “show” of ripping it up and throwing it on the floor.

Ward directed Kabakoff to the row of seats meant for courtroom observers.

On Monday, shortly after a DNA expert took the witness stand, Ward reinstated Kabakoff as his primary defense.

Archie allowed it but told Ward he cannot simply “insert [Kabakoff] when it feels like it’s convenient.” Kabakoff will need to remain his defense through the rest of trial, she said.

“I want to make sure you don’t waffle and change your mind,” she said.

Ward said he wouldn’t.

Ward family testifies in pro se murder trial

Kabakoff watched, relatively powerlesss, last week as Brittini’s mother and three of her siblings testified against Ward. Their testimony pieced together a timeline of Brittini’s murder and Ward’s looming presence in their life after she died on May 5, 2010.

The family hadn’t met Ward before he showed up at Providence Court’s apartment 201. He came with a cousin named Bradley, someone they did know, in the middle of April 2010. Then he returned alone, they said.

He didn’t leave until he was arrested.

Ward slept on their couch, ate at their dining table and walked along their apartment’s sidewalk, they said.

Ward slept in Brittini’s bed and filled her dresser with his clothes, they testified, and he hardly let Brittini’s mother, Dawn Ward, see her children by herself.

Ward questioned all of them.

He asked Brittini’s mother and siblings if they felt threatened by him around the time of Brittini’s death. They said yes.

He asked experts if a Taser could have caused Brittini’s injuries — a bruised neck and torn vagina — to worsen and eventually kill her, referencing a Raleigh lawsuit that alleges police killed a man by tasing him six times. They said no. There was no evidence a Taser had been used, they added.

Ward’s words were met with dozens of objections from the prosecutors and stern reminders from Archie. He needed to cut the commentary about the facts of the case and get straight to the questions, she said.

Ward’s case was Charlotte’s first pro se trial — where a defendant represents themselves — since Todd Boderick’s 2016 bench trial on his charges of killing his 6-month-old child.

That case ended in a mistrial, and a later trial in 2019 resulted in his conviction.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.