Robert Yowell, 52, of Pahrump, pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, sexual assault with a deadly weapon and robbery with the use of a deadly weapon during his arraignment in front of Fifth District Judge John Davis Tuesday.

Jury selection was set for Feb. 6 in Tonopah.

Davis asked whether Yowell ever suffered from a mental disorder.

The defendant's attorney, Jason Earnest, said he had been treated for schizophrenia.

Earnest said Yowell was a homeless person and an alcoholic.

Yowell is accused of jumping in the car of a 36 year-old Pahrump woman behind the Wal-Mart store July 16, putting a knife to her throat, forcing her to drive into the desert and raping her.

Yowell said he wanted to fire his attorney. He said key witnesses who could verify his whereabouts on that night weren't contacted.

Earnest and members of his law firm haven't been to see him in jail either, he said.

"I need to have my witnesses contacted to verify my place and time of being," Yowell said in court. "I wasn't out that night anywhere."