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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The defense and prosecution in the case of the city man charged with third-degree murder told a Blair County judge Tuesday morning that they are working to obtain additional surveillance footage of the alleged bar fight that left another man dead in January.
Corey Lexus Lopez, 34, appeared alongside defense attorney Daniel Kiss for a pre-trial motions hearing in front of Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard. Lopez is facing a felony count of third-degree murder, four felony counts of aggravated assault, three misdemeanor counts each of recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, single misdemeanor counts of obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and possession of marijuana and five related summary offenses. He has been held at the Blair County Prison since his arrest Jan. 4 in lieu of $1 million bail.
During the hearing, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks told Bernard that he and Kiss had come to a number of tentative agreements regarding the pre-trial motions in the preceding weeks. In addressing a part of Kiss' request for discovery, Weeks said he would need a point of contact for the Kettle Inn as it has closed since the incident occurred.
Weeks said Kiss told him there was additional surveillance footage neither the defense nor the prosecution has received and that they would be working together to secure it if it exists.
Weeks told Bernard that he and Kiss had discussed the available footage and that the DA's Office intended to retain an expert to work on enhancing the video's quality.
"There are definitely things that are outstanding that need to be done," Weeks said.
Kiss told Bernard he was provided external video footage that didn't have audio, but that a neighboring hair salon did have audio. He said the defense was working with its own expert on enhancing the video and would potentially try to dub the salon's audio over top.
Weeks confirmed that discovery in the case was incomplete and that the DA's Office had provided Kiss with an up-to-date incident report and was working to give him additional reports.
"There has been a good dialog in terms of discovery," Kiss said.
Weeks said he would meet with Kiss to better narrow down which statements he wanted to include in his motion to suppress. He also said the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on 41-year-old James Dunn of Altoona was out of the country.
Kiss had wanted to question the pathologist on his original autopsy recording and its potential discrepancies.
During the hearing, Weeks said he and Kiss had come to a preliminary agreement regarding the alleged mishandling of two firearms used during the melee. He said that during the altercation, the first witness fired a gun into the air before swapping guns with the second witness. The first witness then turned the gun over to police, saying it was the gun fired during the incident. Police later determined it was not the same gun, returned it to the first witness, confronted the couple and were given the actual gun used. Weeks said that the gun was preserved, awaiting analysis.
"I am satisfied with that for today's purposes," Kiss said, adding that he reserved the right to later challenge the sequence of events.
Kiss then deferred his motion to modify Lopez's bail from $1 million to $250,000, or for his bail to remain the same but require the posting of 10% before release, until more evidence was ready to be presented to Bernard.
Bernard scheduled Lopez for an in-court status conference at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13.
The case was filed against Lopez after he allegedly told police on the night of the incident that he was defending himself and his girlfriend during the fight that left Dunn unresponsive outside the Kettle Inn, along the 400 block of South Kettle Street. Dunn was pronounced dead at UPMC Altoona, with his death attributed to injuries suffered in the fight with Lopez, according to the Blair County Coroner's Office.
Mirror staff writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.