Three of four teenagers charged after a rock was dropped onto a car on a central Pennsylvania highway, severely injuring the motorist, are asking to have their cases moved to juvenile court.
Attorneys for Dylan Lahr, Keefer McGee and Tyler Porter filed motions last month in Union County Court asking that the case be moved to juvenile court, The (Sunbury) Daily Item reported.
All were 17 on July 10 when the large rock smashed through the windshield of a car on Interstate 80, striking 52-year-old Sharon Budd, a Uniontown, Ohio, teacher, in the face.
The three, along with 19-year-old Brett Lahr - whose attorney wants the charges dismissed arguing that the state lacks evidence to support them - are charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, propulsion of a missile into a vehicle and other counts.
A hearing on the motions and others is set for April 30.
Dylan Lahr's attorney filed a motion to move the trial or select jurors from another county, saying pre-trial publicity that "continues to be extreme'' has made seating an impartial jury from the county impossible.
McGee's motion seeking to move his case to juvenile court cites not only his age but his cooperation with prosecutors in testifying in a preliminary hearing for co-defendant Brett Lahr last summer. McGee said the four intended to do some damage during a night of mayhem but didn't anticipate their actions would seriously harm anyone. He also said they laughed as they drove away after hearing the rock hit a vehicle.
Defense attorneys are also seeking to have some evidence in the case tossed out, and Porter's attorney is challenging the classification of the rock as a "deadly weapon.''
