The trial for a Washington, D.C., man accused of kidnapping a Clinton family as part of a plan to commit an armed robbery at a local bank has been postponed.

Yohannes T. Surafel, 25, was scheduled to go on trial Oct. 27 in Prince George's County Circuit Court. He is facing multiple counts of assault, kidnapping and attempted armed robbery in connection with the December kidnapping of LaChrista Hamilton, a manager with SunTrust Bank, her husband and their two sons.

According to court records, his trial was postponed at a hearing Oct. 8 until further notice, at the request of his attorney, Richard Finci, of Greenbelt.

Finci said he anticipates needing more than three days to argue that Surafel was "not criminally responsible" for the crime. He said his case will focus on the emotional trauma he claims Surafel suffered after the shootings at Virginia Tech in April 2007 in which 32 people died. Surafel was a student at Virginia Tech at the time, Finci said.

Assistant State's Attorney Carol Coderre, who is prosecuting the case, and Finci are in the process of setting a new trial date, Finci said. Finci said they are considering possible dates in February or March.

Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the county's state's attorney's office, confirmed Coderre is considering dates in February or March, but declined to comment further on the case.

Surafel is accused of kidnapping Hamilton and her family at gunpoint in their Briarcliff Drive home the evening of Dec. 26. Surafel and two other men allegedly planned to take the family the following morning to the Silver Spring branch where Hamilton worked to carry out an armed robbery.

On the morning of Dec. 27, the men ordered Hamilton's husband, James Spruill, to drive the family to the bank with Surafel in the back seat, according to prosecutors. Before they reached the bank, however, police stopped the car and arrested Surafel, according to court documents.

Yosef Tadele, 23, of Silver Spring, and Beruk Ayalneh, 24, whose last known address is in Arlington, Va., were also charged in connection with the incident. Tadele pleaded guilty in July to being an accessory after the fact and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 4. He was accused of driving Surafel and Ayalneh to Hamilton's home on Dec. 26 and picking up Ayalneh the next day with the intention of meeting up with Surafel later.

Ayalneh's whereabouts are still unknown, according to court records.