The bank branch manager, who along with her husband and two children was kidnapped in Clinton in 2008 as part of a bank robbery plot ,testified Wednesday in Prince George's County Circuit Court that the man accused of planning the crime appeared to be in control of his behavior.

Yohannes T. Surafel, 25, who pleaded guilty Friday to the kidnapping and other charges, has claimed he was not criminally responsible because of severe mental health issues caused by childhood trauma and proximity to the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 when he was a student there.

Wednesday marked the third day of testimony before Judge Michael Pearson, who will decide whether Surafel will be held criminally responsible. On Monday, Pearson heard testimony from Surafel's friends, family and mentors about how traumatic events throughout Surafel's life affected him. Two mental health experts presented by both sides testified Tuesday and early Wednesday on their differing opinions of Surafel's state of mind at the time of the crime.

LaChrista Hamilton, who was an assistant bank manager at the SunTrust bank in Silver Spring at the time of the crime, testified that on the evening of Dec. 26, 2008, two men in masks approached her when she came home from work — one holding a knife, the other with a gun — and ordered her inside.

She identified Surafel as one of the men, and said he appeared to be the leader.

Hamilton testified that her husband and their two young sons were inside and the men bound their hands with electrical cord. She said the men told the family they planned to rob the bank where Hamilton worked and recited details about branch operations that indicated they had done previous surveillance.

That evening, Hamilton said, she and her husband were separated into two rooms and the children were put in a third room. Both Hamilton and her husband, James Spruill, testified Surafel gave most of the orders and allowed the family members to use the restroom during the night.

The next morning, Hamilton said although neither of the men acted violently toward her or her family, Surafel "made clear that if I did not go through with it, my family would be harmed."

Spruill began driving his family, with Surafel sitting in the back seat, toward the bank branch but swerved so a police officer would pull them over.

Maryland State Police Trooper Barrington Cameron testified Wednesday that when he pulled the car over and eventually arrested Surafel, Surafel complied with his orders and did not appear disoriented.

Assistant State's Attorney Carol Coderre, who is prosecuting the case, has declined to comment.

Surafel's Greenbelt-based attorney, Richard Finci, questioned the mental health expert Coderre presented, forensic psychologist Dr. Cerise Vablais, about her credentials. He also asked her to explain why a report from the expert he presented Tuesday, psychiatrist Dr. Neil Blumberg, which indicated Surafel said he had been hearing voices, did not influence her opinion.

Vablais responded Surafel never reported hearing voices to her and she believed the voices he reported hearing to Blumberg did not appear to be connected to his role in the crime.

One of Surafel's fellow assailants is expected to testify Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear as of early Wednesday afternoon when Pearson would make a decision in the matter.

E-mail Zoe Tillman at ztillman@gazette.net.