Stanley P. Brozana Jr., 72 – Served 37 Years as Orwigsburg Police Chief
Schuylkill County President Judge Jacqueline Russell ordered that a Change of Venue hearing in the Lamour Branch double-murder trial be delayed after she wasn’t satisfied with the defense’s preparedness at the hearing scheduled on Wednesday.
Branch’s attorney, Ashley Sabol, from the Schuylkill County Public Defenders Office, filed the Motion to Change Venue in early January. In her brief, Sabol argued that an impartial jury can’t be found in Schuylkill County due in large part to the persistent and mostly prejudicial news coverage of the events that have led to this point in the case against Branch.
In her filing from January, Sabol includes numerous articles written by local news outlets and regional TV network affiliates. Some of those articles, Sabol argues, show a presumption that her client is guilty. Screenshots of social media comments in response to articles are also included in an attempt to prove her argument.
Her argument is also that it’d be nearly impossible to find a panel of jurors who haven’t been made aware of this case based on the persistent and saturating coverage of it.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Sabol intended to stand behind her brief from January but Russell signaled that wasn’t satisfactory.
“I don’t think you’re prepared to proceed today,” she told Sabol. “I just can’t accept what’s in the brief.”
Sabol did not have any witnesses prepared to testify during the Change of Venue hearing scheduled on Wednesday. Russell agreed to delay the hearing until after the upcoming trial term at Schuylkill County Courthouse.
The Change of Venue hearing will now happen on April 16. At that hearing, it’s expected that the news publishers who’ve covered the Branch case so far will be called to testify.
The Canary was notified verbally soon after Wednesday’s court session. In Sabol’s brief, no Coal Region Canary articles are included and the site is not specifically named. However, social media comments reacting to this site’s articles are referenced in the brief.
On Wednesday, Schuylkill County District Attorney Mike O’Pake said the Commonwealth is currently prepared to go to trial in the Branch case. He told The Canary on Wednesday that that could conceivably happen toward the end of 2025.
In his response to Sabol’s brief, which was filed on Wednesday, O’Pake currently opposes moving the trial out of Schuylkill County. He argued that a jury pool should be surveyed to determine if they’re prejudiced to the point that 12 impartial jurors can’t be found here.
“The critical inquiry is whether these jurors can lay aside their impressions or opinions and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in Court,” O’Pake argues. “We can not answer that question without asking it of the potential jurors.”
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