The District’s highest court has upheld convictions on numerous assault charges against a 40-year-old former truck driver who set fire to the manager of a strip club in Northwest. Vasile Graure claimed in the D.C. Court of Appeals that statements made by Good Guys Club manager Vladimir Djordjevic moments after Graure doused him with gasoline and lit him on fire should not have been admitted during the trial. Djordjevic died from his injuries in May 2010, nearly three years after the attack. Graure was indicted on murder charges in December and is still awaiting trial.
But regardless of how the murder trial turns out, Graure will still have to serve the 30-year sentence handed out by a superior court judge in 2008 because Djordjevic’s statements identifying Graure as his attacker were upheld by the appeals court.
A U.S. attorney spokesman declined to comment on the ruling because of the ongoing murder case.
According to court documents, Graure was kicked out of Good Guys on Nov. 3, 2007, after taking a picture of a dancer. He then returned with a two-gallon jug of gasoline. When Djordjevic tried to push Graure out of the club, Graure doused him in gasoline and sparked a lighter.
Djordjevic ran to the club’s kitchen where he used a hose to put out the flames. He then ran outside where he told other employees that he “saw the man coming back with a [gas] can” and “trying to burn” and that Djordjevic “tried to stop him,” court documents said.
Graure’s attorney, who could not be reached for comment, argued to the appeals court that Djordjevic’s statements should be considered hearsay and therefore not allowed in court. The superior court admitted the statements as evidence, citing a legal standard that allows the jury to hear from witnesses testifying about what a third party said when the third party spoke before having time to possibly fabricate a statement. Graure’s lawyer argued that Djordjevic was “composed enough” after being badly burned to tell another employee to “stay calm,” meaning he had time to reflect on the incident.
The appeals court didn’t buy the argument.
“Djordjevic made the statements to his co-workers within moments of emerging from the back door of the club having been completely burned, when smoke was still rising from his body and his skin ‘was rolled off,'” the court ruled. It added, “Djordjevic in particular was screaming and shouting, was very frantic and very nervous and was just in shock.”
