Brief Court Appearance For Defendant in Germantown Abduction Case
By Tony Hanson and Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Delvin Barnes, charged with abducting a woman two weeks ago in Germantown and taking her to Maryland -- where he was arrested and she was rescued -- today made his initial court appearance in the case in federal court in Philadelphia.
It was a very brief court appearance for Barnes. There was no plea today from the defendant. His only words were that he wanted a court-appointed attorney, so the judge appointed a public defender.
The prosecution told Judge Jacob Hart that it would seek pretrial detention in the federal kidnapping case.
Since the defense attorney was just appointed, the case was adjourned until Friday, when the government will make its case for detention without bail.
Barnes was already being held without bail in a local case in Richmond, Va., where he allegedly kidnapped and raped a 16-year-old girl early last month. That case is pending.
Barnes is accused of abducting 22-year-old Carlesha Gaither from a Germantown street and holding her captive for three days. He was arrested one week ago when federal agents surrounded his car in Jessup, Maryland taking him into custody and rescuing Gaither.
Neither the alleged victim nor her family members attended the hearing, during which there was no testimony and no new information made public.
Following the hearing, Barnes' newly appointed public defender, Nina Spizer and the prosecutor provided no additional details in response to reporters' questions.
Barnes, who was brought here by the FBI Tuesday afternoon from a Virginia prison is now being held at the Federal Detention Center.
Prison officials in Virginia had announced that Barnes was being kept on a "suicide watch" there. Prison officials in Philadelphia and his attorney said they had no comment on whether he would remain on "suicide watch" at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.
Late this afternoon, CBS 3 has learned that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder put in a conference call to the FBI agents at Philadelphia Detectives who investigated the kidnapping praising them for a job well done.
