dme court

The attorney representing a Butler Township man charged with homicide in the November death of a two-month-old baby is seeking documents containing communications between the district attorney’s office and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.

Attorney Michael Sherman argued Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court in support of a motion to compel he filed in May seeking communications between medical examiner Todd Luckasevic and Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope in the homicide case against Vincent Paul Miceli, 32.

Lope argued against the motion, further arguing in support of his own motion for Judge Joseph Kubit to impose a restrictive order that would bar the release of the communications.

On Tuesday, Sherman said he tried to obtain the communications through a subpoena, but the district attorney’s office refused to provide the documents, prompting him to file a motion to compel and the district attorney’s office to file a countermotion for a protective order.

Sherman argued medical examiners work for the coroner’s office and can’t be part of the prosecution’s team or serve as a consultant to the district attorney’s office.

The communications are not protected by attorney-client privilege because the medical examiner is not a client of the district attorney’s office, Sherman said.

Lope said his office hired Luckasevic as an independent expert, and his autopsy report will be provided to the defense, but the defense is not entitled to the communications.

“Nothing is being hidden, but it’s not an open file,” Lope said.

He said allowing access to communications between a prosecutor and a prosecution expert would set a bad precedent when asking Kubit to issue a protective order.

Kubit didn’t immediately issue a decision. He said he would take the arguments under advisement.

Township police charged Miceli with homicide, aggravated assault of a victim less than 6 and endangering the welfare of children after the baby boy was found not breathing Nov. 8 in a Spooner Drive.

Miceli had been watching the boy, according to police. He told police he noticed a small bruise on the boys head, but didn’t know why it appeared. He said he went to the kitchen to get the baby’s bottle and when he came back, noticed the bruise was bigger and the infant was shaking.

He told police he called the child’s mother at work to inform her of her son’s condition, and she then called 911 from work.

The coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide. An autopsy determined the baby’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

The boy has not been publicly identified. A Westmoreland County news outlet unsuccessfully tried obtain the baby’s name through a Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law request. Butler County denied the request, but the outlet appealed to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, which granted the request. The county successfully appealed that decision in Common Pleas Court. Arguments centered around a section of the state Judicial Code that prohibits court employees and officers from releasing the name of a minor victim of physical abuse when prosecution is pending.