State Superior Court has affirmed an Indiana County Court ruling suppressing evidence in the case against Nathanial Price, who is one of two defendants charged in the double homicide of a Cherryhill Township couple. The court had previously reversed Judge Thomas Bianco’s ruling suppressing the evidence, but Price successfully appealed to the Supreme Court, which vacated the Superior Court decision and returned it for further consideration. The new finding is that Judge Bianco was correct in denying the evidence connected to Price’s cell phone records because there was not sufficient evidence to establish probable cause.
The ruling does not set Price free. He must still face trial for the murders of Timothy Gardner and Jacqueline Brink in October of 2016. But the evidence collected from his cellphone records may not be used against him.
Co-defendant Justin Stevenson pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree murder and is serving two life sentences in state prison without the chance of parole. He has filed for relief from that sentence. A third defendant, Isaiah Scott, was 17 years old at the time of the murders so his case was handled by Indiana County Juvenile Probation. He was accused of serving as a lookout for Price and Stevenson and did not participate in the fatal beatings.
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