Metro mechanic accused of screwdriver stabbing found not guilty
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
November 2, 2009
A Metro employee who was fired for allegedly stabbing a fellow mechanic with a screwdriver has been found not guilty by a D.C. Superior Court judge, and now wants his job back.
Judge Rafael Diaz found Daryl Redfearn, a former Metro mechanic, not guilty of simple assault and of possession of a prohibited weapon, and not guilty by reason of self-defense.
Redfearn was arrested soon after a Jan. 16 incident with another mechanic, Nick Holland, at the Bladensburg bus garage off 26th Street in Northeast Washington. Holland accused Redfearn of stabbing him with a flat screwdriver.
Originally charged with assault with intent to kill, Redfearn was fired by Metro a month after the incident.
Diaz decided that Redfearn acted in self-defense -- that Holland trapped him and attacked him in a downstairs bathroom in the bus garage, said Amanda Fraser, Redfearn's attorney. During the altercation, Holland was injured.
"He [the judge] just found Mr. Holland's account didn't make sense," Fraser said .
Redfearn said the incident followed an altercation between Holland and another colleague, during which Redfearn intervened.
"Nick Holland attacked me first," Redfearn told The Examiner. "He had a screwdriver and swung it at me."
As for the judge's decision last week, Redfearn said, "I hope it means I get my job back and reinstated with full back pay. I told Metro at the time that I did not stab Nick Holland.
"Like I told Metro before, I'm the one who was locked up and treated like an aggressor," he said. "I spent two days in jail and fell behind in my bills."
Steven Taubenkibel, Metro spokesman, said Thursday of Redfearn that there is "nothing new on his status whatsoever."
