Yesterday, a pretrial hearing was unexpectedly aborted when John "Jordan" Lewis withdrew his motion to keep his alleged confession to police from being used against him at trial.

Though the courtroom was packed with police for several hours, Lewis, 23, was not brought into court until shortly before noon, and then only for about five minutes, as Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart asked whether Lewis understood the legal implications of his decision.

Lewis, dressed in a dark-green prison jumpsuit and wearing oversize black-frame glasses, told the judge he understood that by withdrawing the motion, he could not challenge the propriety of his statement later.

Lewis also told the judge that the decision to withdraw a "suppression motion" was his alone and not suggested by his lawyers.

He did not explain his decision, and his lawyers, Michael Coard and Bernard L. Siegel, declined to comment after the judge reaffirmed a gag order barring lawyers from talking to reporters.

This morning, the judge, defense attorneys, and Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Selber and Edward Cameron will begin the process of selecting a jury that is willing to impose the death penalty if Lewis is convicted of first-degree murder and able to sit for a trial that lawyers said could last until Thanksgiving.

As expected, the Criminal Justice Center courtroom was filled to capacity with police officers and commanders, who escorted Cassidy's widow, Judy, their three children, and other relatives in and out of court.

Only one woman sat in the audience behind Lewis and his lawyers. She declined to identify herself.

In addition to murder, Lewis is charged with committing six armed robberies, the last of which, on Oct. 31, 2007, was interrupted by Cassidy, who was shot in the head and fatally wounded.

Lewis initially sought to prevent prosecutors from using the statement, in which, police say, he confessed to shooting Cassidy, 54, a veteran of 25 years on the Philadelphia force, during the robbery of a Dunkin' Donuts store on Broad Street near 66th Avenue in West Oak Lane.

The statement was reportedly made to police in Miami on Nov. 6, 2007, when Lewis was arrested at a homeless shelter after fleeing Philadelphia three days earlier.

In addition to the statement to police, Lewis made a public statement that night to reporters and TV news cameras in which he apologized to the Cassidy family, saying, "I never meant anything to happen like this."