Dan Robie's arraignment and bail hearing

Dan Robie's arraignment and bail hearing establishes the immediate legal stakes of the murder case: Dan pleads not guilty and asks to be released, but credible threats cited in court leave him in jail while the judge considers the request. The hearing also reaches beyond the courthouse when Will Robie reports its result to Victoria without telling her about the threats against his father.

Arraignment and plea

At the courthouse, Dan acted as his own lawyer and pleaded not guilty. The judge wanted him to obtain counsel, but Dan also made a request for reasonable bail, placing his release before the court alongside the question of his representation.

The bail request and the threats

The judge might have granted bail, Will Robie later explained, but Aubrey Davis told the court that credible threats had been made against Dan and that he would be safer in jail. The warning changed the immediate prospect of release: rather than leave the courthouse, Dan remained in custody while the judge took the matter under advisement.

The hearing's aftermath

Afterward, Will Robie told Victoria that Dan had pleaded not guilty and that the judge wanted him to get a lawyer. When he gave her the fuller account, he explained that Dan had represented himself and requested reasonable bail, then described Davis's warning and the judge's decision to defer a ruling. Will did not mention the threats against his father, leaving that part of the hearing outside what he disclosed to Victoria.