Ex-death row inmate waives jury for sex trafficking trial

Former Delaware death row inmate Isaiah McCoy told a federal judge Tuesday that he will not pursue the insanity defense in his upcoming trial for sex trafficking after all and that he wants the judge, not a jury, to decide his case.

McCoy, 30, is scheduled to stand trial in U.S. District Court in July on charges that he trafficked seven women. He is facing one count for each woman. McCoy is representing himself and will act as his own lawyer in the trial.

McCoy was sentenced to death in 2012 after a state jury in Delaware found him guilty of a drug-related murder. The Delaware Supreme Court overturned the conviction and sentence, and on retrial a state judge found McCoy not guilty last year and set him free.

His Schofield Barracks soldier wife, Tawana Roberts, 35, is scheduled to stand trial with him on one sex trafficking charge. She is also awaiting trial in state court for prostitution.

McCoy was in court Tuesday asking U.S. District Senior Judge Susan Oki Mollway to dismiss the charges against him because he claims that the government is prosecuting him for speaking out on behalf of a defendant charged in state court with murder.

Honolulu police say they targeted McCoy in a joint local-federal prostitution sting that resulted in the sex trafficking charges as part of its investigation into September’s fatal shooting outside a Waikiki nightclub. Maleko Remlinger, 22, of Kaneohe died and two other men were injured after getting hit by gunshots outside Club Alley Cat.

Jordan A. Smith, 18, is awaiting trial on murder, attempted murder and firearm charges. McCoy spoke out publicly on behalf of his friend, claiming that police targeted Smith because Smith is black.

Mollway told McCoy he hasn’t presented anything to back up his claim and that she will issue a written order denying his request to dismiss the charges against him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early asked Mollway to inform McCoy that if he attempts to use the insanity defense in trial, the government will have the right to have him examined by a mental health expert of its choosing.

McCoy told Mollway, “At this point, based on the evidence that I have observed, (the insanity defense) is not necessary.”