With jury selection set for June 25th in the James Lantz homicide trial, Indiana County President Judge William Martin has issued more rulings in the pretrial phase.
In a filing posted yesterday, Martin ruled that the District Attorney’s office has complied with his order of last month by providing a ballistics report to the defense, and the judge also reset the timeline for future filings. The defense must provide a report from their forensic pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht, on or before May 29th. Should the D.A. find it necessary to file his own forensic pathologist’s report, it would be due on or before June 9th. Any motions challenging photographic evidence to be used at trial must be filed on or before May 29th, and the judge expects to wrap up the pretrial phase at another hearing, which he scheduled for June 12th.
The 27-year-old Lantz does not dispute that he shot and killed his neighbor, Derrick Davis, last June in front of the Davis home on Lovejoy Road in Green Township. As he and Davis argued in a dispute involving Davis’ girlfriend, Lantz pulled out a sawed-off shotgun from his backpack and fired a single shot, which struck Davis in the chest. He told police he meant to shoot into the ground or the air, but panicked when Davis started approaching him.
Lantz is charged with a single count of criminal homicide.
