NEBRASKA CITY – An Otoe County judge bound 46-year-old Christopher Driskell over to district court to stand trial for an attempted robbery at NP Mart on Jan. 4, but not until Public Defender Michael Ziskey laid out his case saying the police have the wrong man.

Ziskey questioned witnesses at a preliminary hearing about the evidence that led to Driskell’s arrest and the validity of a jailhouse informant.

Police Sgt. Jason Holman, Ofc. Michael Odom and Capt. Lonnie Neeman testified for the state. Testimony included that the store clerk thought she recognized the voice of a man who approached her outside of the gas station saying he needed the money from the NP Mart safe for his daughter’s surgery. They say the clerk tried to close the door to keep the man out, but he came inside and presented a firearm.

Video shown at the hearing Wednesday shows a man in greenish coveralls step through the door while the woman backs away and calls for help. Her husband is seen coming from a side room before the suspect darts back out the door.

Investigators obtained footage of a man in coveralls and face mask “running” from the area. An employee of a nearby business said he recognized the gait of the man in the video as Driskell.

Ziskey said it seems that around the same time the store clerk suddenly remembered the voice as also belonging to Driskell.

 Officers said a search of Driskell’s residence did not yield the weapon shown in the video or the clothing. However, investigators say a man in jail on a felony charge told them Driskell talked about plans to rob the NP Mart and talked about ditching the clothes at an abandoned house near Fourth Corso.

Clothing was actually found in the vicinity, about a half block from the abandoned house.

 Ziskey said the coverall’s size of 4x was clearly not a fit for Driskell, but police said the suspect had layered up due to the cold weather.

The public defender said investigators used in-store video to estimate the height of the suspect at 5’5” but Driskell’s driver’s license has him at 5’8”.

Driskell’s mother, Sylvia, testified that her son had been hit by a car in September and was unable to run.

Ziskey said the store clerk described the suspect as running away, police described the suspect in video as running and Ziskey said the suspect was quick enough to get past the observation of Sgt. Holman who went directly to the suspect’s escape path.

 

Ziskey asked the court to dismiss the charges saying the state did not explain how Driskell could be identified by his “gait” or what jarred the clerk’s memory that the voice she heard belonged to Driskell. He said Driskell is not the right height and was not able to do “the running” as described at the hearing.

He said the state did not explain why the culprit would have discussed discarding the clothing he wore with anyone at the jail.

Judge David Partsch said the state needs to establish probable cause at a preliminary hearing, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt like a trial. He said without the witnesses appearing in court, it is difficult to make an informed decision about their credibility.

Enrique Aldana, 47, of Nebraska City was arrested after the search of Driskell’s Fourth Terrace residence and charged with possession of firearm by a prohibited person.

Police are waiting on DNA testing of the clothing that was found.