Fayette prosecutors seek protective order in homicide case
Fayette County prosecutors are trying to find out how a man accused of soliciting a fatal shooting gained access to court paperwork from a companion case months before he was charged.
Calvin J. Huffman, 38, of Uniontown, is accused of paying Antonyo Owens, 16, of Uniontown, to kill Anthony Jones near a church in Uniontown’s East End on June 6, 2023. Owens was arrested two days later, and police charged Huffman with paying him to kill Jones, 38, of Uniontown, 13 months later.
In a motion for protective orders filed earlier this month, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Gentile contended Huffman paid for access to discovery information in Owens’ case. That information included two video interviews with three witnesses that was provided to Owens and his attorney sometime after his preliminary hearing in October 2023, and before April 14, 2024.
The motion said prosecutors learned of the alleged leaked discovery in August 2024 when a witness at Huffman’s preliminary hearing testified Huffman showed him the videos and told him he’d paid for the information.
The court filing asked a judge to grant a protective order “to maintain the two interviews so as not to compromise the investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police if new evidence is discovered.”
Gentile said in a phone interview Friday that the intention of the motion is to make sure that the state police’s investigation into how Huffman was given the evidence is not hindered while also protecting the rights of the defendant.
“We’re asking the court not to have us reproduce the interviews. He can watch them in the courtroom; we just don’t want to hinder the investigation by creating another copy and having it sent out,” he said.
The assistant district attorney said the office filed the motion after preparing the evidence they were sending to Huffman, who is representing himself in the case.
He is charged with solicitation to commit criminal homicide. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. His case is currently on hold while he appeals rulings in his case to the state Superior Court.
The hearing for the protective order is scheduled for Thursday morning at the Fayette County Courthouse.