SUNBURY - The 59-year-old man police say delivered a fatal dose of prescription painkillers to a 9-year-old boy in October claims media coverage of his case will prevent a fair trial.
A motion was filed Friday on behalf of Victor W. Hare III, of 196 Springhouse Road, Point Township, asking that a Northumberland County judge transfer the trial to another county or bring in an out-of-county jury. A hearing on the motion is requested. Trial isn't expected until October at the earliest.
Police said Hare provided oxycodone and alcohol to Korbin Rager during a sleepover at Hare's home Oct. 12 to 13. Toxicology testing found Rager had 12 times the maximum therapeutic range of oxycodone for an adult in his system. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide.
Hare's motion cites the victim's "tender age" and resulting publicity through local and national media coverage as well as public memorials, fundraisers and word of mouth. Hare's name and criminal history have been widely reported as a result, the motion states, jeopardizing his right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.
"Defendant believes and therefore avers that the sensationalized and inflammatory expansive pretrial publicity in this matter has indeed prejudiced his right to a fair and impartial jury chosen from the citizens within Northumberland County," the motion states.
Hare previously asked a judge to issue a gag order to the media, an impossible request. A gag order could be issued to specific participants in the case from speaking with the media.
Hare has been jailed since his arrest hours after the overdose on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful possession of a firearm. Toxicology results spurred a new set of more serious charges filed in March, including drug delivery resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter. Total bail on all charges remains $1,040,000.
District Attorney Ann Targonski intends to withdraw the initial child endangerment charge.
Two counts of endangerment are included in the new set.
Hare appeared Friday before Judge Charles H. Saylor for a pre-trial conference. At one point, he became agitated, raising his voice and appearing visibly upset while speaking with his attorney, county conflicts counsel Kate Lincoln. He quieted after Lincoln asked him no fewer than five times to calm down.
Saylor denied Hare's request to speak during the conference, saying there was no court reporter on hand to record his comments. The judge directed him to voice his concerns with his attorney. When the proceeding ended, Hare was led out of the courtroom by county prison staff and a deputy sheriff as he twice muttered, "This is bull----."
Although the overdose trial was continued Friday into the fall, the firearms charge, filed as a separate case, remains scheduled to be tried in July. Saylor granted Targonski's request that it remain on the summer docket. The prosecution will largely rely on police officer testimony, much less complicated than the forensic evidence and expert testimony likely for the overdose case, she said.