The trial date on the Federal Charges against Mike Harvel has been moved to next year because of the volume of evidence that the defense has not yet been able to review.
Originally set for September 28, the trial has now been pushed to April 26, 2022 for the former Cumberland County Solid Waste director and former county commissioner. Harvel is accused of sexual assault and kidnapping and could face up to life in prison.
The request for continuance filed by Harvel's defense attorneys Patrick McNally and Walter Justin Adams states that the volume of evidence can not be reviewed prior to the deadline for pretrial motions. The evidence, according to the filing includes 23.4 gigabytes of data, 429 total files, 6.5 hours of video surveillance, 223 PDF documents with 1740 pages, and 23 video audio or audiovisual files estimated at 20 hours.
In addition, the filing states that counsel anticipates significant defense investigation is necessary independent of review of the Government’s discovery. The allegations are four to six years ago by several women accusing Mr. Harvel of sexual assaults. The investigations cannot be completed in time for counsel to utilize the information in their defense before the September 28th trial date.
Harvel also signed a waiver of his rights to a speedy trial that has been filed with the court.
Harvel remains in federal custody pending the trial.
