DOVER — The man accused of sexually assaulting a woman, robbing her and two others at Emery Farm in Durham last March, in addition to a series of armed robberies in the Tri-City region, will have three trials for the 17 charges he has been indicted on.
Joshua K. Flynn, who also goes by the last name Anderson, had petitioned Strafford County Superior Court to sever his charges into separate trials. He argued having them all together would bias the jury against him. Judge Steven Houran granted the motion in part and denied the motion in part.
Houran categorized the 17 charges into three different “criminal episodes.” One is the episode at Emery Farm, the second is the six armed robberies in Dover, Somersworth and Rochester and the third is a robbery at a liquor store in Farmington. Flynn, who is representing himself, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The Emery Farm trial is slated for mid to late March. The trial for the six robberies is scheduled for April, and the liquor store trial is scheduled for May.
The 10 charges at Emery Farm include three counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, three counts of armed robbery, three counts of kidnapping for tying three people up, and one theft by extortion for stealing a vehicle from one of the people he allegedly tied up. These alleged crimes occurred on March 10.
The six robbery charges are alleged to have occurred between March 7 and March 9, where all except for one took place at a gas station. The liquor store robbery allegedly occurred on March 4.
Flynn was arrested on March 10 at the C&J bus terminal at Pease Tradeport and has been held on a high cash bail since.
Houran also ruled that Flynn was competent to stand trial. Earlier this month, the court held a competency hearing at the request of the state. Both Flynn and the state argued that Flynn was competent to stand trial.