Trenton men to go on trial for murder of Mercer County corrections officer
Delayed by a month when prosecutors were late in turning over hundreds of pages of discovery, the murder trial of two men suspected of killing a Mercer County corrections officer in 2011 is expected to go forward this week.
Maurice Skillman, the brother of oft-arrested Marquis Skillman, and Hykeem Tucker and their attorneys will begin the arduous process of selecting a jury this week following years of waiting behind bars for a chance to rebut murder allegations.
Maurice Skillman
They are charged in the slaying of Carl Batie, an off-duty corrections officer who was shot in the head Nov. 11, 2011 at the Baldassari Regency banquet hall in Chambersburg while he was attending a re-election party for President Barack Obama.
Jury selection is expected to take several days and openings arguments will likely commence late this week or early next week.
Skillman is represented by public defenders Nicole Carlo and Jason Charles Matey while Tucker is represented by defense attorney Christopher Campbell.
Hykeem Tucker
Assistant Prosecutor James Scott is trying the case for the state. And Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson will preside over it after it was recently transferred to him to alleviate some of the pressure on Judge Robert Billmeier, who was scheduled to preside over the case last month.
The murder trial was postponed when Skillman’s attorneys asked for an extension to review new information contained in police reports that were turned over late by Scott.
Scott had said the police reports and other documents contained little new information that was not relevant to the case.
But Skillman’s attorneys — who were reassigned the case following the retirement of Vernon Clash, formerly the deputy public defender for Mercer County — said they needed to review the discovery and independently assess if it factored into their defense of their client.
Billmeier agreed to push the start of the trial back until Jan. 19.
