Defense lawyers may try to discredit some of the D.C. police officers who have been investigating the slayings of a family and their housekeeper in May 2015.
Daron Wint is charged with murder in the deaths of Savvas Savopoulos, 46; his wife, Amy, 47; their 10-year-old son, Philip, and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57. Wint is accused of holding the victims captive, extorting $40,000 and setting their Northwest Washington mansion on fire.
His lawyers filed a motion for materials prosecutors may have that show multiple officers involved in investigating the case have been subject to disciplinary proceedings, have credibility issues or have otherwise been accused of engaging in some form of misconduct. The defense team did not name officers or specify what, if any, misconduct took place.
Prosecutors filed to get a protective order limiting the use of internal investigative information involving officer witnesses in this case. Prosecutors said the restrictions will allow them to share the information with the defense while protecting the legitimate privacy interests of law enforcement witnesses from public dissemination of unreliable, irrelevant or inadmissible information.
The matter will be decided at a court hearing Friday.
Earlier this month, Wint's defense team was granted permission to use evidence they contend proves someone other than Wint is the killer.
The prosecution said it has tested hundreds of items found in the Savopoulos home, and DNA linked Wint to five items.
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Wint pleaded not guilty to 20 felony charges in the brutal crime. The murder charges include four counts each of felony murder in the course of a kidnapping, felony murder in the course of a burglary and felony premeditated murder.
Wint faces life in prison without possibility for release on each murder charge. The minimum sentence is 30 years on each murder charge.
The trial is scheduled to start in September and could last up to two months.
