A man charged with beating a homeless man in July was in court Thursday for arraignment.

Alexander Eugene King, 19 at the time of the incident, was arraigned on four felony charges, including robbery, malicious wounding and conspiring to commit a felony. King pleaded not guilty to all four charges and chose to be tried by the court.

The trial date was set for Jan. 11, 2007.

Another man charged in the same beating, Christopher George Langston, 34, was arraigned Nov. 8. His tentative trial date also is Jan. 11.

The men are charged with the July beating of Timothy Arnold, 48. Both King and Langston were arrested thanks to Crime Line tips.

Other appearances in court Thursday:

n Keshawn Rodgers, 19, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. A bench trial was conducted, and he was found guilty. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Jan. 18.

n Melvin Smith, who was placed on probation in 2004 for aggravated sexual battery, was in court on a charge of violating a condition of his parole. Smith allegedly violated the condition that stated he was not to have unsupervised conduct with a minor. According to the case presented, Smith had been left alone in a house in Ohio with a 2-year-old after the persons who were supposed to be caring for the child left.

The judge found Smith guilty of violating his parole, but released Smith from custody with a warning not to allow parole violation situations to happen again.

n The case of Jeremy Brinkley, charged with two counts of possession of cocaine, was continued until Dec. 6

n The case of Aaron Harris, charged with several firearm crimes, was continued to Dec. 4 pending the receipt of a mental competency evaluation.

tracy.agnew@suffolknewsherald.com