Criminal Call is scheduled today in Indiana County Court for more than five dozen cases. It gives the court a chance to check on the progress of the cases as they head toward trial.
While Criminal Call is generally routine, there are some rare occasions when something significant happens, so we’ll be checking on some major cases that are on today’s schedule.
Nathaniel Price’s case is on the list. He is charged in the brutal murders of a Cherryhill Township couple in October of 2016. In September, co-defendant Justin Stevenson was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his guilty plea to second degree murder.
The Todd Walters case is also on today’s list. Walters is charged in the beating death of his mother at their home on Diamond Avenue in Indiana in February 2013. Last week, Judge William Martin ruled that a trial date must wait for a mental health evaluation to be provided to the prosecution.
The Brady DiStefano case also appears on today’s Criminal Call list. He’s the former IUP student charged with aggravated assault in the death of his fraternity brother two years ago. A homicide charge was dropped against DiStefano but a Superior Court panel reversed the dismissal of the aggravated assault charge. Judge William Martin last month denied three defense motions to suppress two search warrants and statements made to investigators by DiStefano after the incident.
The James Brown case is also on the schedule. Brown is accused of driving a car into Pikel’s gas station in Home last July, killing a Commodore woman who was working inside the building.
