Following a motions hearing last Friday, Indiana County President Judge William Martin has issued a number of rulings in the James Lantz homicide case.
Lantz is accused of shooting to death his neighbor, 23-year-old Derrick Davis, last June in front of Davis’ home on Lovejoy Road in Green Township. State police say Davis’ girlfriend went to Lantz’s nearby home and told him she’d been arguing with Davis, and after the two men argued and then fought, Lantz pulled a sawed-off shotgun from his backpack and shot Davis in the chest.
Judge Martin has denied a motion to exclude first degree and second degree murder charges against Lantz, but notes that the prosecution will not be pursuing second degree murder, and that because Lantz was intoxicated, third degree murder may come into play.
Martin will reserve a ruling on exclusion of photographs from the crime scene, because the prosecution hasn’t indicated what photos they will use and the defense hasn’t said which ones they object to. The judge granted the defense $6,000 to hire forensic expert Dr. Cyril Wecht. He has also ruled that text messages will be admissible as evidence in the case, and he’s granted motions to sequester the jury and the witnesses. He reserves ruling on a change of venue request and says the discovery portion of the pretrial process is not complete, with ballistics, DNA, and notes from the prosecution’s forensic pathologist still pending.
With a number of items still undecided, Judge Martin will try to establish a timeline to move the case forward when he conducts another pretrial hearing on January 25th.
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