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Plymouth man charged with DUI, fleeing police, resisting arrest in Wilkes-Barre

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Seminary’s Mock Trial Team earns second place in mock trial

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A brief pretrial conference paved the way to a jury trial for a man facing a homicide charge.</p><p>Rafael Mora-Polanco, 27, appeared before Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough for a pretrial conference Thursday. Polanco&#8217;s attorney Frank McCabe and prosecutor Justin Paul Richards said the court proceeding was procedural in nature to discuss discovery elements of the case heading into trial.</p><p>Polanco faces an open count of criminal homicide for the fatal shooting of Jorge Marrero, 35, outside an Alter Street apartment on June 11. Marrero was shot six times with a .380-caliber handgun and died at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton about 30 minutes after he was shot.</p><p>Mora-Polanco&#8217;s siblings also face charges of witness intimidation in relation to the case. Denny Polanco and Hilda Mora-Polanco are accused of making attempts to dissuade potential witnesses from testifying against their brother. A third person, Ramon Cruz-Maldonado, is also charged with intimidation for brandishing a shotgun at a witness.</p><p>Rafael Mora-Polanco is scheduled to stand trial in February.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Rafael Mora-Polanco is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse for a pretrail hearing. 12/3/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120415Polanco1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rafael Mora-Polanco is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse for a pretrail hearing. 12/3/2015 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Rafael Mora-Polanco faces charges in death of Jorge Marrero</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pretrial conference for Hazleton homicide suspect paves way to trial