Man Suspected of Phylicia Barnes Murder Appears in Court

phylicia barnesMichael Maurice Johnson, the man re-indicted on charges with the killing of Phylicia Barnes, the Union County teenager who disappeared in 2010, was back in court Thursday.

Johnson’s attorney requested a dismiss of the indictment in Baltimore, while prosecutors’ motioned a bail should be set for Johnson. Circuit Court Judge Michael DiPietro declined to rule on either requests, saying those would be handled on a later date.

Barnes, 16 at the time of her disappearance, was last seen visiting her sister in 2010 in Baltimore. Barnes’ body was found four months after she was reported missing.

Johnson, the sister’s longtime boyfriend, is the last person police know of who saw Barnes alive.

A mistrial in January, Johnson’s second time on trial for the case, resulted in the suspect being acquitted of his charges of second-degree murder. But Johnson was charged again earlier this month by prosecutors who think the ruling was invalid.

Johnson’s attorneys say the second charge is double jeopardy, and they are hoping to have the case dismissed on Thursday.

Prosecutors continued attempting to set a bail for Johnson, seeking an arrest warrant after the indictment before grand jury. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Doory denied the warrant and issued a summons instead, which set no pretrial conditions for Johnson. This is rare for a person with murder charges.

Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow responded to Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Goldberg’s request for bail, resulting in a back and forth about whether a hearing should happen without a motion first filed by prosecutors.

According to Goldberg, the common procedure is discussing bail options at the first appearance of the defendant. O’Donnell responded that the circumstances were not usual.

Judge DiPietro agreed that the situation of the case wasn’t seen every day and asked the prosecutors to file a written bail request.

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