JOHNSTOWN: Today marked the latest in a series of deadlines that had been kicked down the road in the United States of America v. John "Herm" Suplizio. On Friday, defense counsel formally requested a delay for more time ahead of today's deadline, but no order granting that request has been given by United States District Judge Stephanie L. Haines.
The Honorable Stephanie L. Haines, United States District Judge
Instead, a conference is to take place on Thursday, March 27 at 11:AM wherein counsel for the defense and prosecutors will be on the line with Judge Haines via remote connection.
Neither Suplizio nor Roberta Shaffer are required to be present, but their respective attorneys are. Michael A. Comber and Alyssa R. Angotti of Comber Miller, LLC represent Suplizio. Assistant United States Attorney Vasquez Schmitt represents the prosecution. Steven P. Trialonas of The Mazza Law Group, P. C. represents Shaffer.
What the conference will entail remains a mystery. Previous requests for delays had been granted via an order shortly after the requests, so this marks a change in the historic behavior of the proceedings thus far.
DuBoisLIVE will continue to update you once something substantive originates from the conference and a record of it is entered into PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records), an online system that provides public access to case and docket information from federal courts across the United States, including Pennsylvania's federal cases.
Could things be moving to the next step? We may know as soon as later this week.
