Chief Newsham, other officers say prosecution in fatal Karon Hylton-Brown chase is making police afraid to do their jobs

WASHINGTON — The prosecution of two D.C. officers convicted in connection with a fatal police chase in 2020 has “dumbfounded” law enforcement officials around the country and left police afraid to do their jobs, former DC Police Chief Peter Newsham told a federal judge Tuesday during a sentencing hearing.

Newsham was one of more than 40 current and former law enforcement officers who attended the hearing in support of Officer Terence Dale Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky. Sutton was convicted by a jury in December 2022 of second-degree murder for chasing 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown through the Brightwood Park neighborhood after an attempted traffic stop. The chase ended with Hylton-Brown driving his moped out of an alley and onto Kennedy Street – where he was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle. Both Sutton and Zabavsky were convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice for their alleged efforts to cover up the details of the chase and crash.

The fatal chase occurred just months after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers sparked a nationwide conservation about policing Black communities. Sutton’s subsequent prosecution and conviction marked the first time in DC Police history an officer was found guilty of committing murder in the line of duty.

Newsham, who served as D.C.’s police chief from 2017-2021, said in his 30 years in law enforcement he’d never seen an officer anywhere in the country prosecuted criminally for violating a department’s chase policy. He told U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, who presided over the trial, that he believed Sutton’s case was the first in the nation’s history.

“One of the most important things I would like to impress upon you is that there is absolutely no way in the world that Officer Sutton could have notice that his conduct was criminal,” Newsham said.

Newsham, who left the department in January 2021 to take a job as chief of the Prince William County Police Department in Virginia, told Friedman he believed the decision to prosecute Sutton and Zabavsky was politically motivated and that he’d heard from other law enforcement officials around the country that they were shocked and dumfounded by it.

“It is my opinion that had this case not occurred on the heels of the George Floyd murder, these officers would not be facing decades of jail time,” Newsham said.

Newsham’s sentiments weren’t unique Tuesday. Among the dozens of law enforcement officers who either wrote letters to Friedman in support of Sutton and Zabavsky or spoke in person, many said the case had made them warier to do their jobs. The majority of the letters were submitted with the names of the authors redacted for fear of retaliation or disciplinary action against them, according to a letter from Sutton’s attorneys.

“Young officers are often afraid to enforce and turn a blind eye to enforcement of D.C. laws because if someone gets hurt or worse, they fear to meet what Ofc. Sutton has had to endure,” one letter reads. “The community is suffering. The drug dealers, violent offenders, and other nefarious characters feel emboldened to operate with impunity. Every day is a zero-consequence holiday for them. For the community they feed off of and terrorize, it's another day of fear and pain.”

Tracy Cox, a former DC Police detective who previously worked as Sutton’s partner in the 4th District, said the case helped make up her mind to never work as a police officer in D.C. again. Cox, who is Black, said she believed prosecutors had “race-baited” the case.

“I think it was used by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to set a case they could win,” Cox said. “And they could win based on race. And that’s disgusting.”

Another 4th District officer, Officer Esmeralda Zamora, said the case had made her question whether there was a future for her in law enforcement.

“How can we be asked to actively patrol our beats, detain offenders and do our duties when we’re constantly wondering if we could become the next Terence Sutton?” Zamora said.

Former DC Police Officer Mike Fanone, who retired from the department after being seriously injured during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, wrote one of the few signed letters. In it, he said he believed Sutton had intended only to do his job when he pursued Hylton-Brown.

“Let me begin by saying that my words in no way undermine the tragedy of any loss of life. I know people are hurting and a family will be without a loved one. But the Dale Sutton I know did not wake up one day after years of service to the community and decide that he wanted to do harm to someone,” Fanone wrote. “That he had malice in his heart. That he wanted to take actions that would lead to someone getting hurt. That is not Dale Sutton. That was never Dale Sutton.”

Since Sutton and Zabavsky were charged, federal investigators have maintained the case was about two officers who went far afield of their duties and violated the oaths they took. In a press release announcing their indictment in September 2021, an FBI official from the agency’s Washington Field Office said Sutton and Zabavsky had shown a “careless disregard” for Hylton-Brown’s life.

In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said what Newsham and other officers had said in Sutton’s support showed if there were no consequences for Sutton’s reckless actions, other officers would be encouraged to behave in the same way.

“It’s quite clear that the officers who just spoke, including Chief Newsham, don’t know the facts of the murder,” Aloi said, adding a moment later, “He was not prosecuted for doing his job. He was prosecuted for not doing his job. The officers who spoke here today just highlight why he must face severe consequences.”

Prosecutors are seeking a mid-range sentence of 18 years in prison for Sutton and 10 for Zabavsky. Sutton’s attorneys have asked Friedman to sentence him to a far lower term in prison – and to then suspend it in its entirety in favor of a probationary term of up to five years.

The sentencing hearing was scheduled to continue Wednesday with additional testimony from witnesses before Friedman announced the sentences.