Thomas Breen photo
66 Norton St.: Scene of one alleged rape.
A 25-year-old New Haven man pleaded not guilty Monday in one of two cases in which he has been charged with first-degree sexual assault of women he believed to be sex workers.
Just before noon in a crowded sixth floor court room at the New Haven County Courthouse at 235 Church St., state Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford received a not-guilty plea from New Haven Public Defender Beth Merkin for one set of charges faced by her client, Navardo Lockhart. Clifford continued Lockhart’s cases until Jan. 23.
Standing tall in an orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed behind his back, Lockhart didn’t say a word as his lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf to charges of first-degree sexual assault, second-degree unlawful restraint, first-degree robbery, and second-degree larceny related to Lockhart’s alleged attack of a woman on Aug. 26 in the basement of the notorious, condemned West River apartment complex at 66 Norton St.
Lockhart and Merkin did not submit a plea related to a second set of sexual-assault charges Lockhart is facing, stemming from his alleged attack of another woman on May 24 in Edgewood Park at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Ella Grasso Boulevard.
Lockhart’s combined bail for the two cases is $650,000.
In a brief, minute-long procedural hearing in the wood-paneled court room, Clifford continued Lockhart’s two cases until Jan. 23. He said he is granting Lockhart and the public defender an unusually long time before their next court date because he understands that the city police and the state plan on filing still more sexual-assault-related charges against Lockhart in the weeks and months ahead.
“We’re going to go for a longer continuance only because I’ve been told there will be other warrants being applied for,” Clifford said to Merkin and Lockhart. “Obviously, you’ve got to receive all the discovery you’re entitled to on these two, but there may also be other cases.”
As Lockhart shuffled away from the defendant’s table and back towards the court room’s marshal, a young woman sitting in the front row of the audience section of the room whispered a few warm words of encouragement.
“Keep your head up, son,” she said. Lockhart replied with a small nod.
Police originally got on Lockhart’s trail after a community organization that helps sex workers reported details about a man who was allegedly preying on them. Three cops are on administrative duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation into charges that they allegedly had stopped the man at one point but let him go. (Read more about that here.)
