The suspect in the homicide of Emma Roark, a City College student, made his first court appearance in Sacramento Superior Court Tuesday, Feb. 15 after being arrested last Friday.
Suspect Mikilo Morgan Rawls, 37, faces charges of kidnapping, rape, sodomy and murder. He spoke to Sacramento Court Commissioner Ken Brody only to clarify the pronunciation of his first name.
Rawls’ appointed public defender, John Buchholz, asked for a motion to have the media removed from the courtroom or to have only one photographer take his client’s photo from the neck down. The motion was rejected, with Brody expressing the importance of the press to the function of the court and explaining the case is already national news stating, “That horse has left the barn.”
The next hearing in the case will proceed May 20. Rawls’ charges could lead to a death penalty prosecution.
