Man faces life in jail for Lynn robbery

SALEM – A Beverly man who faces a potential life sentence in state prison if convicted of armed robbery pleaded innocent to the charge as well to an assault charge Wednesday and was returned to the Middleton Jail to await trial.Joseph James, 22, of 45 Roundy St., entered his plea in Salem Superior Court before Judge Howard J. Whitehead who agreed to set the same bail amount of $20,000 cash as was set earlier in district court.The defense may seek a bail review at another court date.The charges stem from an incident in Lynn on Feb. 4 when James allegedly walked into Arnold’s Bakery Outlet at 76 Lewis St. and demanded money from the 34-year-old clerk and her 8-year-old daughter with a gun.The frightened clerk turned over about $200 and the robber took off.Lynn police quickly responding to the scene spotted James within minutes just up the street and arrested him.Police recovered the stolen money from James when he was taken into custody.James is due back in court on May 12 for a pretrial conference.Assistant District Attorney Kristen R. Buxton is prosecuting the case for the commonwealth.