Judge Gregory M. Snyder said request to recuse himself is premature

Aug. 19--The Chanceford Township man accused of fabricating an ATV accident that resulted in his wife's drowning wants York County Judge Gregory M. Snyder to remove himself from presiding over the case.

Ruling from the bench Monday in Common Pleas Court, Snyder said the request was premature.

Possibly complicating the pretrial game plans for both the prosecution and defense of 41-year-old Joseph Bernard Fitzpatrick III is that Snyder will be transferring to civil court at the end of the year.

Judge Maria Musti-Cook is making the switch from civil court to criminal court and assuming Snyder's case load.

Snyder said he did not expect to retain control of the case after December and rejected a suggestion that Musti-Cook handle the pretrial motions.

Snyder said he would not ask another judge -- already handling a full case load -- to assume his responsibilities.

Defense attorney Christopher Ferro said he was not implying Snyder had been involved in anything improper in signing search warrants outside the presence of the defense.

Instead, Ferro said, he intended to file a legal challenge against the search warrants, which would require Snyder to rule on his own actions.

Ferro raised the fact that Snyder had recused himself from another case for exactly the same reason.

The difference in the two cases is that defense attorney Korey Leslie had filed legal challenges against the search warrants for his client before seeking Snyder's recusal from the case.

He said Monday that Snyder had, "in an abundance of caution, recused himself." The case was reassigned to Judge Richard K. Renn, he said.

Snyder told Ferro on Monday that until he filed legal motions challenging the search warrants in Fitzpatrick's case, his request for recusal was premature.

He added that the entire matter may well be academic, since Fitzpatrick is not expected to go to trial until next year.

Ferro has also asked if Snyder opts to remove himself from the case, that none of the other criminal court judges be assigned to the case because of previously signing search warrants in other cases.

Transferring from civil court, Cook has not been in the position of signing search warrants.

The commonwealth alleges that Annemarie Fitzpatrick's$1.7 million life insurance policies and Fitzpatrick's ongoing relationship with another woman were the motives to murder her on June 6, 2012.

Contact Rick Lee at 717-495-1782.

Man accused of killing wife, faking ATV accident, faces trial

Husband charged in 2012 Chanceford Township homicide

___

(c)2014 York Daily Record (York, Pa.)

Visit York Daily Record (York, Pa.) at www.ydr.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services