Williams v. United States

FARRELL, Senior Judge:

A jury found both appellants guilty of distributing cocaine to an undercover police officer. On appeal, them primary argument (indeed, Williams’ sole contention) is that the admission of a DEA-7 chemist’s report identifying the recovered substance as cocaine, without corresponding testimony by the chemist, violated Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), as applied in Howard v. United States, 929 A.2d 839 (D.C.2007), and Thomas v. United States, 914 A.2d 1 (D.C.2006). The government concedes error on the point but argues that Williams…