Categories: Archives

Bomb threat trial for former Pitt student delayed

What’s new?

A federal judge will now wait until at least the end of August to set a trial… What’s new?

A federal judge will now wait until at least the end of August to set a trial date for a former Pitt student accused of calling in bomb threats for two University buildings in April 2008.

How we got to this point:

Around April 9, 2008, someone called the University police and threatened to use an explosive to destroy the Cathedral of Learning. About two days later, someone called them again, this time threatening twice to destroy Posvar Hall.

This past January, workers in U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan’s office indicted Louisa Ewuresi Nkrumah, of Harrisburg, for three counts of calling in threats to “unlawfully damage or destroy a building,” accusing her of making these calls.

Before federal judges could set a trial date for Nkrumah, they had to give her and her lawyer, Cynthia Reed Eddy, a chance to file pre-trial motions.

Pre-trial motions are anything that would affect the need to have or the conduct of a trial. They can include a range of requests. In some cases, lawyers will ask judges to exclude certain pieces of evidence from a trial; sometimes, they could be unrelated to a trial, such as when a lawyer asks for an extension because an emergency arose.

This is at least the fourth time a federal judge has extended Nkrumah’s deadline to file pre-trial motions. They were originally due April 15; then, a judge moved the deadline to June 1, then July 1, then July 31 and now to August 31.

Each time, Judge Nora Barry Fischer has said in court documents that she chose to extend the deadlines to give Reed Eddy “reasonable time necessary for effective preparation.”

What’s next?

If the deadlines remain intact, a judge will set a trial date for Nkrumah shortly after the August 31 deadline to file pre-trial motions.

If Fischer extends the deadline again, Nkrumah’s trial date might not be set until the end of September, or even later.

Pitt News Staff

Share
Published by
Pitt News Staff

Recent Posts

Opinion | The dying art of going to a movie theater

But as time goes on, theaters close their doors for good, and streaming services become…

4 hours ago

The Pitt VolleyBand: The seventh player

Wisconsin volleyball fans walked into their “armory bunker,” also known as UW Field House to…

4 hours ago

SGB announces student safety, grocery store initiatives

During its weekly meeting on Tuesday at Nordy’s Place, SGB discussed new initiatives to increase…

4 hours ago

Pitt Open Lab ‘I Voted’ button-making contest selects a Roc-themed winner

As the 2024 Presidential Election approached, many on-campus events took place encouraging students to participate…

4 hours ago

Column | The Mike Williams redemption arc is here

Brandon Aiyuk. Davante Adams. Cooper Kupp. DeAndre Hopkins. Christian Kirk. Adam Thielen.  Name after name…

4 hours ago

Opinion | The greatest tropes & cliches in media

Are we in the mood for a titillating arranged marriage and spicy there’s-only-one-bed scene? Or…

5 hours ago