SMETHPORT — Attorneys continued to prepare for a trial in a homicide case against Bradford man Stephen Stidd with a hearing on discovery issues on Wednesday.

The hearing lasted only minutes in McKean County Court, but it followed an hour-long meeting in chambers between the attorneys and Senior Judge John Cleland.

Stidd, 65, is accused in the shooting death of his former son-in-law Mel Bizzarro.

The defense has never denied that Stidd pulled the trigger, but they assert the action was done in self-defense against a man who has assaulted him in the past.

He appeared Wednesday for a hearing on a defense omnibus pretrial motion for relief and a motion filed by the commonwealth for pretrial discovery and inspection. Essentially, each side was asking that all evidence in the case be shared.

Stidd sat in the courtroom as attorneys from both sides met with Cleland in judges’ chambers.

L. Todd Goodwin and Bobbi Jo C. Wagner are prosecuting the case on behalf of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Bradford attorney Greg Henry and Smethport attorney James Miller represent Stidd.

After about an hour, everyone met back in the courtroom so Cleland could place an order on the record.

Henry agreed that Stidd waived his right to be present at the discussion in chambers, saying that Stidd felt his rights were well-represented by his attorneys.

Cleland relayed his ordered orally in the courtroom, and it included the following:

• The commonwealth is to make available for testing by the defense experts all physical evidence that state police possess;

• The commonwealth is to provide clean and complete copies of documents and notes;

• Within one week, the commonwealth is to notify the defense whether or not it is able to revive location data from Bizzarro’s cell phone for the 48 hours prior to the incident;

• The commonwealth is to notify the defense when they can provide a litigation package from an expert;

• The commonwealth is to preserve any samples it possesses and make them available for testing;

• The defense is to provide all expert reports it plans to bring to trial; and

• Both the commonwealth and defense have a duty to present to the court any discovery-related motions within 14 days.

Stidd is being held in McKean County Jail without bail. No trial date has been set.