A formal arraignment was held the morning of Feb. 21 for Steven Holmes, the suspect arrested in early December in connection with the assault that took place in Anderson Hall on Nov. 1.
In addition to the long list of charges Holmes faces for the assault, including attempted murder, sexual assault, attempted rape, kidnapping, aggravated indecent assault and robbery, he also has a second case against him for retaliating against and intimidating a witness, said assistant district attorney William Davis.
“He called a female who had answered some questions during the police investigation and threatened to do stuff to her as a result of her talking to the police about his case,” Davis said.
Holmes was not present at the arraignment, as he is currently in custody at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. He will be represented in court by an appointed public defender.
A pre-trial conference for Holmes is scheduled for March 19. Davis said that at this conference Holmes will either plead guilty to the charges or request a trial.
Neither Campus Safety Services executive director Carl Bittenbender nor Capt. Robert Lowell was available for comment about the arraignment.
“He waived his preliminary hearing, which is usually an indication that he’s thinking about pleading guilty,” Davis said, “so we’ll see
what happens March 19.”
Morgan A. Zalot can be reached at morgan.zalot@temple.edu.
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