Robert Mitchell Pleads Not Guilty

Former Seton Hall basketball player Robert Mitchell, 23, was arraigned on Thursday morning at Newark's Veterans Courthouse on a 10-count indictment that includes charges of kidnapping and robbery.

Mitchell was removed from the basketball team on Sunday after publicly criticizing then-head coach Bobby Gonzalez after the team's Big East tournament loss to Notre Dame. On Monday, he allegedly entered an Irvington Avenue residence with an accomplice, forced the eight occupants into a common area at gunpoint and relieved them of cash and valuables.

He wasn't present in the courtroom during the arraignment but communicated with the judge via a video connection. He was told by the Hon. Amilkar Velez-Lopez that he would need to surrender his passport and not to have contact "in any way, shape or form" with victims and witnesses—some of whom are fellow Seton Hall students—or their families. While he's permitted to return to Seton Hall for class, the judge instructed him not to live on-campus.

Bail has been set at $650,000, and Mitchell's attorney, Markis Abraham, told reporters that he intends to file for a bail reduction.

"The bail is unreasonably high," he said, noting that his client has no criminal record. "This is a young man who's finishing his college degree, and it's not an appropriate set of circumstances to ensure his appearance in court."

Abraham said he wasn't sure whether his client had been living on-campus but that Mitchell spent "significant time" there. For the record in court, his address was given as in Brooklyn.

Mitchell's mother and father were present in court, but they declined to speak to reporters.