Jury selection delayed in Waynesburg homicide case
Jury selection was delayed Wednesday for a Waynesburg woman accused of intentionally providing tainted drugs that led to a fatal overdose last year.
Tiffany Gump, 28, had been scheduled for trial in Greene County Common Pleas Court later this month with co-defendant Jack Finogle, 24, of Waynesburg. His jury selection and trial dates were already canceled late last month after he was granted his request for a new attorney.
The two allegedly gave Taylor Arthur, 25, marijuana laced with fentanyl on June 19. Arthur’s body was later found near the 800 block of East Greene Street in Waynesburg.
Gump and Finogle are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, and drug delivery resulting in death, along with misdemeanor charges of tampering with physical evidence, recklessly endangering another person and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Friday, the court approved Gump’s counsel’s request for an additional $1,500 in funds for investigation and consulting costs, as well as approving an invoice for investigation work already conducted since January. The work by Rega Investigation and Consulting had included redownloading videos provided in discovery that had previously been unplayable and reviewing footage of Gump’s interview with police.
Gump and Finogle had both been granted continuances in their case in March so their attorneys could review the footage.
They had been scheduled for jury selection Wednesday, to be followed by a two-day trial starting May 20.
Finogle’s jury selection and trial dates were changed April 29, the day after Judge Louis Dayich approved his request to remove his attorney, Mark Kovach, as court-appointed counsel. Finogle had made two written requests for a new attorney, citing reasons such as failure to respond to Finogle and his belief that Kovach didn’t have his best interests at heart.
“As a result of the allegations, Mr. Kovach, who is present, also indicates that he believes the attorney-client relationship is now broken down,” Dayich said in his April 28 order.
His new attorney, Marissa Stewart, was appointed Tuesday.
The Greene County district attorney’s office said no new jury selection date had been set yet for Gump. No jury selection or trial dates were listed in either defendant’s online court dockets as of Wednesday afternoon.