Attorneys for Stephen Stidd are asking specially presiding Senior Judge John Cleland for a bail hearing in an effort to secure his release before trial.
Stidd, 64, of East Main Street, is charged with criminal homicide for the shooting death of his son-in-law, Melvin Bizzarro, in 2015 behind Togi’s Restaurant. Stidd had been charged in 2015, but the charges were dismissed — on the grounds of self defense — by District Judge Dom Cercone after a preliminary hearing. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office refiled the charges in April.
A preliminary hearing was held April 26. District Judge David Engman, specially appointed to preside over the hearing by Cleland, bound the single charge over to McKean County Court.
Stidd has been incarcerated since his April 18 arrest.
The motion, and supporting memorandum, filed Tuesday by attorneys Greg Henry and James P. Miller outlined several criminal cases where bail was granted — despite the homicide charge.
While Pennsylvania statute prohibits a district judge from setting bail in a murder case, the motion indicated that judges of a court of common pleas are permitted to do so.
The memorandum indicated under Pennsylvania statute, all prisoners should be bailable “unless for capital offenses or for offenses for which the maximum sentence is life imprisonment” or unless no other conditions would assure public safety.
To deny bail, “the commonwealth must produce evidence at the bail hearing that, if believed by a jury, would how, beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed murder of the first degree,” the memorandum read.
Also noted were prior rulings by the state Supreme Court, which held that when a defendant claims self-defense, as Stidd has in this matter, the prosecution “has the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that self-defense did not exist.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the prosecution — which is being led by senior deputy attorney general L. Todd Goodwin — had yet to respond to the motion.
Court records allege that on Jan 16, 2015, around 9:30 a.m., in the rear parking lot of Togi’s Restaurant, Stidd shot Bizzarro in the chest, allegedly following an argument.
Bizzarro at one time had owned Togi’s Restaurant with his wife, Michelle Stidd Bizzarro.
Stidd’s wife Barbara called 9-1-1 to report the shooting. When police arrived on scene, Stephen Stidd gave the gun to an officer, who passed it on to state police investigators.
Upon later examination, officers found the two-shot Derringer had one round in it that had misfired, and etched into that round was the name “MEL,” according to court records.
A food delivery man who was unloading an order at the restaurant at the time of the incident told police he had heard the men arguing, saw Bizzarro allegedly push Stidd and then heard a loud “bang,” court records read.
Police interviewed others who said Bizzarro alleged Stidd had threatened to shoot him, and that Stidd had patted his pocket where his gun was and said he had “something” for Bizzarro, according to court records.
Stidd is currently held without bail in McKean County Jail.
