NEW YORK — The accused killer of Jam Master Jay argued in new court papers Monday that the feds improperly waited 18 years to charge him even though was in their sights as a suspect since 2003.
Ronald Washington, 58, says that the nearly two-decade-long delay in bringing charges for the 2002 Queens killing of hip Run-DMC dee jay Jason Mizell has made it too difficult to mount a defense.
“The government has known about the crime since 2002 and has been convinced that Mr. Washington committed the murder since at least 2006. This uniquely long pre-indictment delay violates fundamental conceptions of justice and due process,” wrote defense attorney Susan Kellman in a motion to dismiss the indictment in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The feds don’t have new evidence of Washington’s guilt, Kellman wrote. Prosecutors already had proof “above and beyond a preponderance” of guilt in the Mizell murder when Washington was sentenced in a separate robbery case in Brooklyn in 2008, the feds told a judge at the time.
“The government then waited another 14 years to charge Mr. Washington with this murder. The government knew or should have known that Mr. Washington’s ability to present an effective defense would have to deteriorate with each passing year,” she wrote.
The feds haven’t yet responded to the motion.
Washington is charged along with Karl Jordan, 38, of plotting to shoot the musician in the head inside his Merrick Boulevard studio in Jamaica, Queens, on Oct. 30, 2002. Jordan is accused of pulling the trigger.
The duo was furious at Mizell after he cut them from a cocaine distribution deal at the last minute, prosecutors said.
Mizell, a native of Hollis, Queens, became a star in the early 1980s as part of Run-DMC, along with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Daryl “DMC” McDaniels.
His killing remained a mystery until 2020, when the feds announced the arrests of Washington and Jordan.
The pair’s trial is set for February 2023.
———
