Metro

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A New Jersey native accused of attempted homicide will represent himself in future court proceedings following a judge ruling Tuesday evening.

Marquis Harris, 41, appeared for a call of the list hearing in Blair County court and asked Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard to grant his petition to have defense attorney Louis W. Emmi withdraw as his counsel.

Along with felony attempted homicide, Harris is facing two felony counts of aggravated assault, single felony charges of possession of firearms prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility across two separate but related cases.

He also faces two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and single misdemeanor counts of possession of an instrument of crime with intent, making terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance.

While Bernard relieved Emmi from the cases, she questioned Harris on if he wanted to apply for a public defender or represent himself, to which Harris said he wanted to represent himself.

“Mr. Harris, you are facing very, very serious charges,” Bernard said. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to represent yourself.”

She acknowledged his constitutional right to represent himself, but said she was hesitant due to the technical aspects of law that she thought he didn’t understand.

“I believe you when you say you think you can do it,” Bernard said.

After Harris insisted that he wanted to “take the chance,” Bernard granted his motion. She told Harris she expected him to handle his case like a lawyer and said she would assign standby counsel.

Bernard also gave Harris 30 days to file any pre-trial motions. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 17.

Harris is accused of shooting another man March 12, 2023, on the 2300 block of Fourth Avenue.

The victim told police he was shot inside the residence and officers found blood on the sidewalk, porch and throughout the residence, the report states.

When officers interviewed the others who were at the scene of the shooting, all gave conflicting testimony, with one woman stating she shot the victim.

Search warrants were served on their cellphones and showed contacts with a person labeled “Arson” with a cellphone number the same as a contact labeled “Mr” on another phone.

When confronted with the names, a woman who was at the scene said “Mr” was with them during the shooting, court documents state.

A search of the phone number shows it belongs to Harris, with tracking history of the phone showing that it was active in the area at the time of the shooting.

Harris was ultimately taken into custody in October 2023 during a raid on his city residence. A subsequent search warrant yielded about 4 ounces of suspected heroin/fentanyl, valued at $56,500; 4 ounces of crack cocaine, valued at $11,300; 172 suspected MDMA/acid pills, valued at $3,440; about 1 gram of marijuana; electronic scale; blender with suspected heroin/fentanyl and a sifter; and three boxes of unused new white wax packets.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.