Indiana County President Judge William Martin will conduct a pretrial hearing today for 27-year-old James Lantz, a Commodore man charged with killing his neighbor outside of the victim’s Green Township home.
Lantz is accused of shooting 23-year-old Derrick Davis last June. State police say Davis’ girlfriend went to Lantz after she and Davis had argued. The two returned and confronted Davis in front of his Lovejoy Road home and the two men fought, with Lantz eventually pulling a sawed-off shotgun from his backpack and shooting Davis in the chest.
Judge Martin last week denied a defense motion to exclude first degree and second degree murder charges. Today, he will consider ruling on the exclusion of crime scene photographs, asking the prosecution to reveal which photos it plans to use and the defense which photos it objects to. He will also consider a defense request for a change of venue and may receive updates on the ballistics and DNA reports, and the notes from the prosecution’s forensic pathologist.
The judge also hopes to set a timeline to move the case forward toward trial. He will establish a new deadline for the filing of amended motions, in consideration of the pending reports.
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