CARBONDALE -- Months before an official trial starts in the case against off-duty Carbondale Officer Frank Schulze, both sides met to determine whether or not Schulze should be eligible for bail.
Frank Schulze is charged with killing Joseph Molinaro in Carbondale in February while he was off-duty.
Schulze faces an open count of homicide in the death of Molinaro.
Investigators say he and Molinaro got into a confrontation which led to a foot chase across several hundred yards.
Surveillance video caught part of it. Officer Schulze following Molinaro with his gun pointed at him. Schulze shoots and kills Molinaro on the next city block over. Schulze shot and killed Molinaro on the next city block over.
The district attorney argued that warrants first-degree murder. In Pennsylvania, you cannot face that charge and be eligible for bail.
"The elements of first-degree murder fit with the facts as we see them. Based upon the law of this commonwealth, when you're charged with first-degree murder and we can establish our case, you're not entitled to bail,” explained Lackawanna County District Attorney Shane Scanlon.
The defense argued that Molinaro was known as a trouble-maker and confronted Schulze on Schulze's property. As a result, Schulze's defense team is looking for the first-degree murder charge to be dropped making Schulze eligible for bail.
"Our defense team will not stop until Officer Schulze is exonerated. That's what this case warrants. That's what he deserves. He committed no crime himself,” said Corey Kolcharno, Schulze’s defense attorney.
Schulze is currently awaiting a trial scheduled for early next year and is locked up in the meantime.
There is no word yet on when the judge's ruling on this emergency bail hearing will come down.
