Through his defense lawyers, Economics professor Rafael Robb pled not guilty yet again at his arraignment at Montgomery County Courthouse yesterday morning.
Robb, who did not show up to the arraignment, is charged for the first- and third-degree murder of his wife and is currently being held in jail without bail.
Though a May 7 trial was scheduled yesterday for the professor - currently on indefinite leave from the University - defense lawyer Frank DeSimone is pushing for a fall trial.
"It is likely that [a rescheduling] will happen," said Frank Genovese, another defense lawyer.
Also at the arraignment, Judge Paul Tressler ruled to postpone the discussion of two motions filed by DeSimone last week to take the case out of court because some relevant evidence is still undergoing "scientific testing" by the FBI.
One of DeSimone's motions questions the bloody footprints found on the Robb family's kitchen floor, where Ellen Robb's body was found dead.
In the motion, DeSimone argued that the footprints did not match Robb's size-12 shoe.
"We certainly hope the testing will turn out to be favorable to our client," Genovese said.
In a hearing held last February, District Judge William Maruszczak had ruled that Robb's case had sufficient evidence to go to trial.
Bruce Castor, the District Attorney prosecuting Robb, is backing this ruling, saying that "the outcome of the scientific testing will not be definitive."
The other motion, a bit more general, also called for the judge to throw the case out of court, saying that the prosecution's evidence was insufficient and largely circumstantial.
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