The testimony, most of it from employees at Dunkin' Donuts shops or at pizzerias, together suggested an increasingly violent path, which began Sept. 18 and ended in Cassidy's death six weeks later at the doughnut shop at 6620 N. Broad St. in West Oak Lane.
When the hearing opened yesterday morning, about 120 people filled the benches, lined the walls, and stood in the aisles. The Cassidy family filled the front rows on one side; Lewis' supporters, the front rows across the aisle.
Uniformed officers made up more than half the crowd, which spilled into the hallway. The city's new police commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, stopped before the proceeding to speak to Judith Cassidy and several other family members.
Coard persistently labored to shake witnesses' confidence in their identification of Lewis. He also worked to clarify whether the robber had pointed a gun at them or harmed them, or taken any of their personal possessions.
The lawyer, noting that his client faced a multitude of charges, said during a break that "we don't know what the judge is going to hold him on."
