KU football player Chris Martin charged with aggravated robbery; bond set at $35,000

By Ian Cummings     May 30, 2013

Mike Yoder
Chris Martin

Douglas County prosecutors charged junior Kansas University football player Chris Martin and two other men Thursday with aggravated robbery in connection with a May 13 home invasion in southwest Lawrence.

Martin, along with former Kansas football player Jeremiah Letrell Edwards, 21, of Garland, Texas, and Joshua Edwards, 28, of Lawrence, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of robbing cash and marijuana from a Lawrence man at gunpoint at a home in the 1900 block of Camelback Drive about 10:30 p.m. on May 13, said Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence Police Department spokesman.

The victim in the case was a 24-year-old KU student who lived at the Camelback Drive residence.

The three arrested men remained in Douglas County Jail Wednesday night and appeared in Douglas County District Court Thursday via video, where all three were charged with one count of aggravated robbery. Prosecutors asked that bond for Martin be set at $50,000, but Martin’s attorney, Chris Joseph, said that figure was too high because Martin did not pose a danger to the community and was not a flight risk.

Joseph said that he thought the handgun allegedly involved in the robbery might have been a toy gun rather than a working firearm. And, he said, Martin had no intention of leaving the area.

“He’s going to be doing everything he can to stay here and continue his career at the university,” Joseph said. “He’s not going anywhere.”

Chris Martin transferred to Kansas earlier this year as a four-star defensive end, but has not yet played in a game here.

Douglas County District Judge Kay Huff set bond for all three defendants at $35,000 with the requirement that they have no contact with the victims or any witnesses in the case. All three defendants are scheduled to appear in court again on June 6.

A conviction for aggravated robbery in Kansas can carry a prison sentence from 55 months to 20 years, depending on a person’s criminal history. Douglas County prosecutors said Martin had no criminal record. A 2011 citation for marijuana possession in Florida had been resolved by a diversion agreement.

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