After refusing to stand at the defendant's table in court Monday, a self-professed sovereign citizen accused of concealing a loaded handgun in Newton told a judge he is "requiring" a Sussex County assistant prosecutor to compensate him $500,000.

SUPERIOR COURT -- After refusing to stand at the defendant's table in court Monday, a self-professed sovereign citizen accused of concealing a loaded handgun in Newton told a judge he is "requiring" a Sussex County assistant prosecutor to compensate him $500,000 for the "trespass against my person."

Edwin Roman, 36, of Bristol, Conn., appeared in front of Judge Thomas J. Critchley and, holding a binder of papers, refused to move from a standing position in the gallery of the courtroom, an action that Critchley "didn't mind" but Assistant Prosecutor Jerome Neidhardt took issue with.

"Any defendant who walks into this courtroom when they appear before your Honor stands at that table," Neidhardt said. "I'm not making separate rules for this, there's no reason to, he's a defendant facing charges."

Roman, who is facing a second-degree charge of unlawful possession of a weapon along with two fourth-degree charges of obstruction and having possession of hollow nose bullets, stated in the first hearing he had in front of Critchley in February he did not consent to Critchley entering a not guilty plea on his behalf.

On Monday, stating he "did not consent to any of this," Roman required he be compensated half a million dollars after he was searched the afternoon of Dec. 14 by officers following a motor vehicle stop in Newton for a broken headlight. After stating he was not armed, officers spotted fully-loaded magazines in his glove box and conducted a search of his person and his car. Officers found a .45-caliber Springfield handgun in a soft holster on his pants, which was loaded with a hollow point bullet in the chamber. He also claimed officers had no jurisdiction over his vessel -- the term sovereigns use to identify their vehicles -- since it was his private property.

In addition to "requiring" the court dismiss, with prejudice, all charges against him due to "harms suffered and inconvenience upon my person," Roman also insisted his gun be restored to him and the court administrator "properly discipline those bringing such false claims."

While he was initially represented by attorney Christopher Perry, Roman fired him and has chosen to represent himself. To determine if he is competent to represent himself should the case go to trial, Roman would have to undergo extensive questioning by a judge, Critchley said Monday.

Neidhardt said Monday most of the discovery in the case is complete except for testing of the gun at the State Police Ballistics Unit in Trenton.

Roman, at the end of the hearing Monday, stated he appeared in court "in the matter of Edwin Francesco Roman Jr." before he showed a birth certificate to the court, indicating it was "issued in my name in error."

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe they don't have to answer to government authority including the courts and law enforcement.

Sovereigns, the FBI states, believe their birth certificates are associated with fake names, which they call "straw man," that are used by the government to set up a secret government account. The reason they believe this is called the Redemption Theory, where sovereigns claim the U.S. government went bankrupt when it abandoned the gold standard in 1933 and began using citizens as collateral in trade agreements with foreign governments, the Bureau stated in an analysis on counterterrorism.

Critchley, in an attempt to interact with Roman, asked, "How are you making out generally? In regular business of life, how are you?"

After Roman declined to answer, Critchley continued, "The reason I ask is because I am certainly picking up you are not willing to submit to the authority of the court, so when folks are going off on, what I consider a tangent, (it's) because they have other feelings or grievances in life."

Critchley continued, "I have a few beefs myself, but I manage to not get too carried away ... there is very little this has to do with vessels and international trade, we are not going to try to franchise you."

When he asked Roman's wife who she was -- her identity was revealed in an earlier hearing Jan. 14 in front of Judge William J. McGovern III -- Roman turned to her and sternly told her not to answer, to which she complied.

After Roman and his wife declined to take a notice of appearance for his next court date, Roman, just as he left the courtroom, asked Critchley if he was under oath and if the prosecutor was, to which Critchley indicated "no" to both questions.

Neidhardt said due to Roman not having an attorney, it is not known if he has a permit to carry a weapon in Connecticut. He does not have one in New Jersey.

In February, Neidhardt was denied a second attempt at jailing Roman, who has remained at liberty under set conditions, requiring him to make contact with the courts every other week by phone and in person.

A final hearing in the case before it heads to trial will be held on May 20.

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Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

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