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Geisinger restricts visitation due to increasing spread of COVID-19

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Temporary 2-way traffic on section of South Franklin St. in downtown Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Once again, the trial of Anthony Spudis has been pushed back significantly. This time, it&rsquo;s mostly because of COVID-19, his defense attorney says.
				Spudis, 38, is facing an open count of criminal homicide, accused of breaking into the the home of Nanticoke woman Gertrude Price on Thanksgiving in 2013. According to police, Spudis stabbeed Price, 97, several times in the head in an altercation that police say originally began as a burglary.
				Spudis has been locked up since his December 2017 arrest, with his trial having been delayed multiple times since then. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case against him.
				And while Assistant District Attorney Daniel Zola that the prosecution team would be ready for the planned trial date of early January. But defense attorney Robert Saurman said the defense team won&rsquo;t be.
				According to Saurman, at the Tuesday hearing before Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major scheduling issues, which is especially difficult due to the extra effort involved in a death penalty case.
				Saurman said that the defense team&rsquo;s detective and mitigation experts are far behind on schedule, as both have been unable to meet with interview subjects for in-person meetings.
				He also said that it is difficult to meet with Spudis, who is currently being housed at the Lackawanna County Correctional Facility. While Saurman said that the facility has been as accommodating as possible, it has still been difficult, as the prison has had to go into lock-down a handful of times since the beginning of the pandemic, adding that the prison is actively under a lock-down at this moment.
				As such, Saurman asked for more time to be able to prepare. Gartley also noted that she had concerns about Saurman&rsquo;s ability to visit with his client, agreeing that a continuance was necessary under the circumstances.
				Gartley set Spudis&rsquo; trial to begin on Aug. 16, 2021, with a full two weeks planned for jury selection, as the capital-status of the case causes increased complications for the jury selection process. The trial itself is expected to continue for another two weeks.
				Spudis was arrested in late December 2017, after two inmates at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility reported he talked about killing a woman in Nanticoke on Thanksgiving a few years previously.
				Prosecutors say police found items at the home of Spudis&rsquo; former girlfriend, Taryn Simms, that implicate him, including a screwdriver that is believed to have been the weapon used to kill Price. Other items from Price&rsquo;s home also were found hidden in the rafters of Simms&rsquo; home, prosecutors say.

Another continuance in Spudis homicide trial