Suspects in NW Death To Get Separate Trials

Two Southeast Washington men charged with murder in the slaying of retired New York Times journalist David E. Rosenbaum will go on trial separately, a judge ruled yesterday in a hearing in D.C. Superior Court.

The U.S. attorney's office sought separate trials for cousins Michael C. Hamlin and Percey Jordan because the prosecutor plans to introduce statements from each man implicating the other in the Jan. 6 attack on Rosenbaum.

Hamlin, 23, told police that he took Rosenbaum's wallet and used his credit card but said it was Jordan who struck Rosenbaum on the head with a pipe, according to charging documents. The documents state that Jordan, 42, told police that he and his cousin used Rosenbaum's stolen credit card but denied being present during the attack on the 63-year-old victim, who was accosted near his Northwest Washington home.

Using such statements in a co-defendant trial would be tricky, if not impossible, because the Supreme Court has ruled that one co-defendant would have the right to question the other in court. And because the other co-defendant is on trial, too, he or she could not be compelled to testify.

To use the statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines had little choice but to seek separate trials. Neither Jordan's attorney, Michael Starr, nor Hamlin's attorneys, Stephen B. Mercer and Steven D. Kupferberg, opposed separate trials.

But the government and the defense are clashing over the charge that Hamlin and Jordan were engaged in a criminal conspiracy, including other robberies. A conspiracy charge could allow the prosecution to introduce evidence that might otherwise be inadmissible.

The first trial is set for Oct. 18.