Attorney asks for court arguments on discovery in murder case

Vladimir Podnebennyy’s attorney is getting a hearing on a discovery issue.

The College Township man accused of the October stabbing death of his wife, Natalya Podnebennaya, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor possession of an instrument of crime.

On Monday, he will be in Centre County court for a pretrial conference as his case proceeds toward a jury.

But there will also be another discussion.

On Jan. 6, defense attorney Karen Muir asked the court to schedule a hearing on her motion to compel.

Muir filed a request in November for discovery. When she filed the motion to compel, she said “as of this date, the commonwealth has failed to provide the requested discovery.”

Discovery is the legal term for the information uncovered relative to a criminal or civil case.

The requests included things like written or oral confessions, all written or recorded statements and audio or video tapes of anyone involved.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Podnebennyy told State College police that his wife shouldn’t have said what she said.

Podnebennyy, a native of Kazahkstan, speaks Russian.

Muir made an issue at the November preliminary hearing of the preservation of some evidence presented at that time.

District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said Tuesday that discovery has been turned over and Muir should have withdrawn the request to argue the matter.

Parks Miller said that discovery is an ongoing process and information will be turned over to the defense as it is received.

Muir confirmed Tuesday that she has since received some discovery but has not yet had an opportunity to review it entirely.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Attorney asks for court arguments on discovery in murder case."