The preliminary hearing for the Troy Brown, the "screwdriver bandit," was postponed yesterday following the arrest of his attorney.
Larry Charles, Brown's lawyer, was found naked with his 14-year-old goddaughter on Jan. 15 in the Philadelphia Criminal Justice Center in Center City and charged with statutory sexual assault, Philadelphia Police Department officials said.
Charles has been released on bail, and he returned to work within a week of his arrest. However, Brown has requested to appoint new counsel, possibly due to the possible impact of Charles's misdemeanor on his credibility as an attorney, court officials said.
Yesterday, County Judge Bradley Moss ordered an eyewitness line-up for the case and postponed the preliminary hearing until March 5 to give Brown more time to find another attorney.
Brown, 36, of Northeast Philadelphia, has been charged with a total of nine counts of robbery as well as other related offenses in connection to a series of muggings at point-of-screwdriver that occurred between Nov. 9 and Nov. 21. Eight of the 10 robberies occurred in University City, with two of the victims being affiliated with the University.
Brown remains in custody, having failed to post bail of $15,000 for each count.
When police connected Brown to the robberies, he was already in custody, having rammed his car into a police vehicle when an officer tried to stop him for vehicle violations on Nov. 29.
Brown was initially charged with five counts of robbery and related offenses on Dec. 15 and was later positively identified by three more victims and charged with those crimes on Jan. 5.
Two more victims positively identified Brown on Jan. 22 and he was charged with two more counts of robbery and related offenses.
