Copley trial scheduled for August
City man accused of killing his wife, Catherine, abandoning her body in a garage
Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona man accused of killing his 29-year-old wife and abandoning her body in a garage is scheduled for trial in August.
Michael D. Copley, 33, is facing homicide and related charges in the death of Catherine Copley, a woman who went missing in December 2015 and whose partly decomposed body was found six months later.
"The commonwealth is very eager to try this case as soon as possible," District Attorney Pete Weeks told Judge Wade A. Kagarise on Wednesday in Blair County Court, where trial plans were reviewed.
Jury selection is scheduled for July 27, for a five-day trial scheduled to start Aug. 2.
Copley, who was escorted to court Wednesday from the county prison, told Kagarise that he remains satisfied with defense attorney Richard Corcoran.
Outside court, Corcoran declined to comment on the pending defense.
"Mr. Copley is confident that he has a good case," Corcoran said.
In court, Copley told the judge he understands that Corcoran, at this time, has no plans for calling an expert witness.
In a September ruling, Kagarise suggested that the defense could call its own expert witness to offset anticipated testimony by an expert witness for the prosecution. That witness, a U.S. Secret Service investigating analyst, is expected to explain how investigators concluded that on the night Catherine Copley disappeared in December 2015, Michael Copley's cellphone was in or near the garage where her body was found six months later, on the 400 block of Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
That conclusion, according to analyst James L. Wigley, who testified last year at a pretrial hearing, was based on a computerized examination of cellphone data and internet transmissions.
While the conclusion has a margin of error, as Wigley acknowledged in testimony, Kagarise found the margin wasn't great enough to keep the testimony out of trial where it will be subject to cross-examination.
Before the case goes to trial, attorneys will be expected to review photographs to be shown to jurors, with any objections falling to the judge for a decision.
Kagarise also acknowledged that Copley's request for an out-of-county jury remains on hold, to be considered only if a Blair County jury cannot be seated.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 914-946-7456.