A man accused of bank robbery failed to get criminal charges dismissed during a Howard Circuit Court pretrial hearing yesterday that ended with his trial being set for March 1.
Henry Darnell Johnson Jr. and his attorney undertook several legal maneuvers in challenging charges that the 30-year-old Baltimore man robbed an Ellicott City bank in January.
But all of the requests -- including one for a courtroom lineup that would have required robbery witnesses to identify Mr. Johnson as the suspect -- were denied by Judge Raymond Kane Jr.
Mr. Johnson, 30, has been charged in five armed robberies, including one at the Commercial and Farmers Bank on U.S. 40 in Ellicott City Jan. 25. The other four robberies were in Baltimore County.
The defendant's latest legal maneuvers follow his unsuccessful attempt last month to have the trial moved to another county. He asserted that he could not get a fair trial in Howard County because the Circuit Court has an account at Commercial and Farmers Bank.
During hearings Wednesday and yesterday, Mr. Johnson and Deputy Public Defender Louis Willemin attempted to get the indictment against him dismissed and to block much of the prosecution's evidence.
On Wednesday, Mr. Willemin requested an unusual courtroom lineup, noting that he had six inmates from the Howard County Detention Center willing to participate in the lineup.
But Judge Kane said such a lineup isn't necessary. He said the court can take steps at Mr. Johnson's trial to make sure that witnesses make proper identifications.
Yesterday, Mr. Willemin asked Judge Kane to dismiss th indictment against Mr. Johnson. He asserted that the prosecution had violated his client's right to a speedy trial.
But Judge Kane said the trial was postponed for "good cause" on Aug. 31 when the prosecution requested time to prepare trial subpoenas. The trial has been postponed several times since then for various reasons.
Most of this week's hearings involved Mr. Willemin's efforts to prevent the prosecution from using a confession the FBI said Mr. Johnson made to agents after his Feb. 22 arrest on a federal warrant.
An agent testified that Mr. Johnson listed the banks he allegedly robbed, their locations, the dates of the robberies, and the amount of money he collected in each incident.
Mr. Johnson testified Wednesday that he never made any statements, saying he refused to be interrogated without an attorney.
Judge Kane denied the motion to have the statements withheld, saying that he believes that Mr. Johnson made them voluntarily.