At a motions hearing last week, Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani scheduled the next series of steps in the case of Dylan Blair, the 22-year-old Saltsburg man charged with supplying the drugs that took the life of a Derry woman on the day after Christmas, 2016.
Feliciani gave the prosecution thirty days to respond to a defense request for a bill of particulars in the case, then ordered Blair’s attorney to file a brief within twenty days, and finally the prosecution will have twenty days thereafter to respond to the brief. The judge will then set a schedule for the next actions toward bringing the case to trial.
Blair’s omnibus pre-trial motions filed in April asks for the bill of particulars, which is a detailed, formal statement of information on charges or claims against him. Attorney Emily Smarto has also asked the court for a writ of habeas corpus, which could effectively dismiss the charges, and has also requested the outright dismissal of charges
Blair is accused of providing the deadly mix of heroin and fentanyl that killed 38-year-old Michelle Spillar, whose body was found next to her bed with an empty stamp bag and two full bags of heroin beside her. Toxicology reports determined that the cause of death was an “acute combined drug toxicity” including fentanyl and two other drugs that were not heroin, but Smarto claims the charge of drug delivery resulting death against Blair cannot be proven because the autopsy did not specifically blame drugs provided by Blair for Spillar’s death. She also challenges the constitutionality of the state’s statute regarding drug delivery resulting in death.
Blair was tracked down by Westmoreland County detectives and captured in at the Days Inn in Burrell Township in May of 2017. He remains in custody at the Westmoreland County Prison.
