8News speaks with attorney of one of the defendants in the Otieno trial

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Five of the eight people charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Irvo Otieno could possibly could have their charges dropped. 8News spoke with attorney Russ Stone to learn more about the what transpired.

Otieno died while in the custody of eight law enforcement officers at the Central State Hospital on March 6, 2023, after he had been taken into custody a few days earlier due to a mental health crisis.

The Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Mann confirmed with 8News that “unwilling to prosecute” motions had been filed for five of the Henrico County Sheriff Deputies who had previously been charged in Otieno’s death on Friday, May 3.

Those deputies were identified as Randy Boyer, Dwayne Bramble, Jermaine Branch, Bradley Disse and Tabita Levere.

Even though the motions were filed, the judge would still need to approve them to have their charges dismissed.

8News interviewed Russ Stone, an attorney for one of the defendants in the trial regarding Otieno’s death who could possibly have their charges dropped.

Why did this happened? What occurred on Friday, May 3?

“What has occurred today is that five of the people that had charges pending against them, the Commonwealth has filed a motion to nolle prosequi,” Stone said. “What that means is the Commonwealth is dropping the cases, legally speaking. They are allowed to bring them back but in the vast majority of situations when that occurs that does not happen.”

What is your understanding of how we got here?

“We are very pleased with a nolle prosequi,” Stone said. “The fact of the matter is, I think the people of Dinwiddie should consider themselves lucky that they have a prosecutor who is willing to do what the law requires, as opposed to just what is politically expedient.”

The case has already been through three prosecutors.

“Remember this case first started with a different prosecutor, there was somebody else who dropped the charges against these people,” Stone continued. “I’ve been through the evidence over and over and over again and on behalf of Dwayne Bramble. I can certainly say that, I would defy anybody to show me where he did anything wrong. All he did was what he was trained to do. He’s got a difficult job and difficult circumstances, but he followed his training.”

The news comes about a month before Bramble’s jury trial is scheduled to begin on June 3.

“For the charges that the Commonwealth has against him, they would have to prove that he had malice, that he was intentionally trying to harm somebody and there’s just no evidence of that. Not one shred of evidence of that,” Stone said. “And he never should have been charged. I would say that’s probably true of the other individuals who had their charges dropped, but that’s for their lawyers to talk about. But I know Dwayne Bramble should’ve never been charged and I appreciate Amanda Mann for righting that wrong today with what she did.”

Has this introduced challenges as a defense attorney?

“I would say yes, you know, you are usually just dealing with one person,” Stone said. “So you know the personality you’re dealing with. You know what you need to show them to try to convince them to take a certain position or if they won’t you know what you’re up against.”

Stone speaks about why the process for this trial has taken so long.

“In this case we’ve literally had three different prosecutors to deal with,” Stone explained. “That is one of the reasons why its probably taken so long to get here. and its one reason why it took Ms. Mann five months to reach this. She just got this case handed to her in January, she had a lot to catch up on. But she did and she’s now made the decision that the cases she wants to go forward on are the ones that are left. And she does not want to go forward on Mr. Bramble’s case and four of the others. I respect the fact that she put that much thought into it.”

Would this be the end of the road for your client if the judge approves this motion?

“I suspect that it will be,” replied Stone. “Legally speaking, a nolle prosequi means that the Commonwealth is allowed to bring the charge back if they choose to, but that’s extremely rare. And again in my view, there’s just is no evidence to charge him with. So I don’t think the charge will ever come back.”

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