September 2, 2015 at 4:45 p.m.
Wolf trial postponed so defense can view documents
New date could be announced Friday
Wolf trial postponed so defense can view documents
Shannon J. Wolf, 41, was set for a seven-day jury trial in October on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide (as party to the crime). He is accused of luring Kenneth "Punky" Wells to the Davenport Street bridge in June 2003, striking him with a rock and placing his body in the river. His former wife, Latoya Wolf, has also been charged in connection with Wells' death.
Latoya Wolf, who faced the same charge as Shannon Wolf, entered a guilty plea to second-degree intentional homicide on July 30 as part of a plea agreement. She is set for sentencing on Nov. 6.
Oneida County Circuit Judge Michael Bloom scheduled the October trial dates during a motion hearing in June. Also at the hearing, Bloom agreed to review confidential court records pertaining to the personal histories of two potential witnesses in the case. Wolf's public defender attorney, Maggie Hogan, filed the motions asking Bloom to perform an in-camera review of records involving two witnesses who will be called by the state if the matter goes to trial. Hogan indicated she is looking for information she may use to challenge the credibility of the two witnesses.
An in-camera review is where the judge examines the material and determines if it should or should not be released to both sides.
Hogan asked Bloom to inspect records relative to involuntary termination of parental rights proceedings involving Latoya and Shannon Wolf in 2009. At the Sept. 1 hearing, Bloom agreed that after reviewing "literally thousands of pages of material" in a process that took over five hours, that some of the documents held by the Department of Social Services (DSS) were relevant to the case. Bloom said DSS first made contact with the two on June 17 and 18, 2003, just six days before Wells' murder.
"I was unable to locate any, smoking gun, if you may, in the documents," Bloom said. He added that the documents did suggest an "ongoing conflict between Latoya and Shannon Wolf."
The primary document Bloom identified as being relevant, andwhich he agreed to release to both Hogan and district attorney Mike Schiek, was a 225-page chronological record of the DSS contacts with the Wolfs between 2003 and 2009 when their parental rights were terminated. He also said there were other records he was also ordering released to both sides for further inspection.
In the second motion Hogan filed, she asked Bloom to review records connected to a Chapter 51 proceeding involving another potential witness.
A Chapter 51 proceeding is used to involuntarily commit an individual who has been deemed a danger to himself or others.
Bloom said that while the potential witness's mental state could have been an issue to be used to attack his credibility as a witness, he didn't see anything in the records he reviewed that met the statutory threshold for admissibility.
He therefore denied Hogan's motion to disclose those records.
Because Schiek was involved in a jury trial in Branch I, Bloom set a scheduling hearing for Sept. 4 to determine when the jury trial for Shannon Wolf will begin.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at jtaylor@ lakelandtimes.com.
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