DA to court: Bar self-defense claim in former Carbondale cop's trial
Prosecutors want a Lackawanna County judge to bar a former part-time Carbondale police patrolman accused of fatally shooting an unarmed man while off-duty from arguing at his upcoming trial that he acted in self-defense or was justified as a law enforcement officer in using deadly force.
Neither potential defense is applicable to former Patrolman Francis Schulze’s case as a matter of law, the district attorney’s office says in motions recently filed in county court.
Mr. Schulze’s attorney, Corey Kolcharno, disagrees, asking the court to deny the prosecution requests and seeking to permit jurors to hear instructions regarding both self-defense and justified deadly force.
Mr. Schulze, 26, is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 17, on first- and third-degree murder and other charges in the Feb. 2 shooting death of Joe Molinaro, 34, of Fell Twp.
Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/da-to-court-bar-self-defense-claim-in-former-cop-s-trial-1.2131868