Long waits for defendants seeking trials in murder cases

Seventeen people are currently being charged, but none of them are set for an immediate trial.

By RICH CHOLODOFSKY
TribLive

There are 17 defendants facing homicide charges in a dozen pending cases in Westmoreland County.

None of them will go to trial when the next criminal term begins today.

According to the county’s court administration office, five homicide trials have been pending for at least three years. One, a death penalty prosecution involving a defendant accused in the beating death of a 2...