Rowan Expected to Plead Not Guilty

Columnist Carl T. Rowan is expected to plead not guilty to misdemeanor charges of possession of an unregistered revolver and ammunition in D.C. Superior Court on Monday, according to his lawyer.

In an interview Friday, attorney Raoul L. Carroll complained that the D.C. office of corporation counsel had violated an agreement on Tuesday when it sought from a Superior Court judge, but was denied, an arrest warrant for Rowan, a nationally syndicated writer.

Judge Joseph Hannon, who turned down assistant corporation counsel Samuel Flanagan’s request for an arrest warrant, said Friday: “I refused to arrest Carl Rowan, who is a responsible member of this community.” He said that the prosecutor did not request a judicial summons to inform Rowan that charges were filed against him on Wednesday.

The charges stem from a June 14 shooting incident in which Rowan, a longtime advocate of tougher handgun controls, wounded an intruder who, along with friends, had sneaked into the yard of Rowan’s Northwest Washington home for a late night swim in Rowan’s pool.

If convicted, Rowan could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined at least $1,000 on each of the two charges.