A Prospect man who recently was granted a retrial in a homicide case has rejected a plea deal from the district attorney’s office.
During a pretrial hearing yesterday afternoon, 32-year-old Jeremy Sickenberger was offered 10 to 20 years with credit for the time served in exchange for a guilty plea to third-degree murder. Sickenberger was found guilty of shooting and killing Thomas Stockman in April 2014.
Marco Attisano is an attorney who has been working pro bono for Sickenberger since 2016, saying he was drawn to the case due to poor representation in his first trial.
“I learned that Mr. Sickenberger has autism spectrum disorder. That wasn’t presented at the first trial and that drew me to the case,” Attisano said. “Through working with him and what happened here in this case, it’s important that he has full legal representation and a fair trial.”
During the hearing Attisano argued that Sickenberger could not use the county public defender’s office because of a conflict of interest. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania granted Sickenberger a new trial, ruling that his previous representation by the county public defenders provided ineffective counsel.
Judge Joseph Kubit is weighing whether or not to allow Attisano to represent Sickenberger in the case. However, Attisano says he will still be involved in the case even if he is not permitted to be the trial attorney.
The estimated trial date is some time this fall.
