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November 10

Selenski trial date delayed to next year

Double-homicide suspect says he no longer wants to represent himself in court.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – The capital murder trial of Hugo Selenski scheduled to begin Monday again has been delayed – possibly until next spring – a Luzerne County judge said Wednesday.

Selenski also said Wednesday he no longer wanted to represent himself, and he requested attorneys be put back on his case to represent him.

Judge Joseph Van Jura agreed to delay the trial until at least April 2012 to give a newly appointed attorney time to review Selenski’s case.

The 38-year-old is charged with two counts of homicide and other related charges in the deaths of Tammy Fassett and Michael Kerkowski, both 37, in May 2002. Their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave outside a Kingston Township home on June 5, 2003.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Selenski faces either the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Van Jura removed Selenski’s standby attorneys, John Pike and Robert Buttner, and agreed to allow attorney David Lampman to stay on the case.

Because Lampman is not certified to handle death penalty cases, Van Jura said another attorney who is will be assigned to assist.

Van Jura’s decision came after Selenski spoke with Van Jura for more than two hours in a private hearing. In the hearing, Van Jura later said, he and Selenski spoke about issues Selenski had with Pike and Buttner.

The judge said that to force the case to trial would most likely result in having to try the case again.

“It is the court’s intention to do this case once,” Van Jura said.

On Tuesday via court papers, Selenski asked that new attorneys be assigned to his case to help at his trial, citing a “displeasure and irretrievable breakdown with current counsel.”

In September Van Jura allowed Selenski to represent himself on the grounds of the differences the defendant had with his attorneys. Selenski said he now feels he cannot try the case by himself and needs the assistance of counsel.

Van Jura said that because Selenski asked that attorneys be assigned to his case again, he cannot ask to represent himself again.

“I chose (to represent myself) to get to trial,” Selenski said. “Now, I need help.”

Selenski said he has gotten no help from Pike and Buttner in preparation for his trial.

Selenski also signed a waiver of right to a speedy trial until April 30, 2012.

District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll said she did not oppose a continuance or appointment of counsel back to Selenski’s case, but did say that depositions of witnesses need to be taken by the end of the year.

Musto Carroll said one witness in specific, an 88-year-old, is an expert for their case and is in poor health.

Van Jura said prosecutors will need to submit court papers on their requests to be addressed at another time.

Selenski apologized to Van Jura for delaying the trial again. He will be held at State Correctional Institution at Retreat to await a yet-to-be-scheduled trial.

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