After a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Thomas Bianco has ordered Indiana County District Attorney Pat Dougherty’s office to submit a brief outlining its position on issues raised by James Brown’s omnibus pretrial motions in a homicide by vehicle case.
Brown is charged with six felony offenses, two misdemeanors, and nine summary traffic violations for a crash in July in which the car he was driving ran over a fuel pump at Pikels Top Tier Fuels in Home, smashing into the gas station’s building and bursting into flames. 52-year-old Melissa Myers of Commodore was working inside the building and was trapped. She died at the scene.
Brown has chosen to work through the court system, rather than his attorney. In December and early in January, he notified the court that he wished to file a motion to suppress evidence in the case, to have the charges dismissed, and to be released from jail on nominal bond. The requests were forwarded to his attorney, William Stephens Jr., who filed the omnibus pretrial motions on January 7th.
Judge Bianco set a deadline of March 15th to submit its brief and ruled that Stephens may submit a supplemental/response brief on or before March 25th.
Brown is 34. He admitted to police after the crash that he had taken heroin and smoked marijuana prior to the crash.
