Bank robber knew it was wrong, stole cash anyway

25-year prison term for man with ‘two minds'

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

"It was like two minds. It was like my mind and someone else," said Mann Thomas Ward II of Newburg at the plea and sentencing hearing.

However, in view of a medical report that concluded Ward had the capacity to realize he was committing a crime and to act lawfully, Judge Robert C. Nalley found him competent to stand trial. Ward pleaded guilty to robbery with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

During the hearing, Ward took the stand and described the events leading up to the robbery at PNC Bank.

Ward said that the morning of Nov. 3, he pulled into a bowling alley parking lot near the bank as he was driving to appear in court.

"From that moment on, it's like I'm there and I'm not there. It's like you know what's going on, but you can't really stop yourself. You know it's wrong, but you're just kind of watching," Ward said on Friday.

Ward testified that he kept a gun in his car to defend himself when he was in dangerous neighborhoods, but wasn't positive where he found the mask he wore during the robbery. He said he didn't remember writing the note he passed to the bank teller.

Witnesses of the robbery in the bank said that a man with a handgun entered and gave the teller a note demanding money, according to police. The teller gave the armed man cash, and the robber fled, police reported. Sheriff's officers responded to the bank, and a witness gave them a description of the man's car.

Ward testified that when he left the bank, he started driving up and down U.S. 301 until eventually, he saw police driving toward him.

He then crashed into a wooden fence and ran from the car.

Police arrested Ward and charged him with armed robbery, assault and theft.

"If it was me, I wouldn't have done it," Ward said of the robbery.

Despite the assertion, a medical report concluded that Ward didn't have any major disorders that would have prevented him from understanding and controlling his actions.

Ward's attorney, Hammad Matin, said he took "strong opposition to the diagnosis."

"There is sufficient evidence to show this was not Mann Ward. I believe it was a frame of mind," Matin said.

Nalley upheld the overall finding of the medical report.

"We will conclude that the defendant is competent to stand trial and is responsible for the behavior imputed to him if convicted," Nalley said.

Charles County Assistant State's Attorney Blayne G. Miley told the judge that Ward has two prior convictions for robbery with a deadly weapon.

In accordance with the terms of the plea agreement, Ward was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.

brodgers@somdnews.com