Judge delays setting trial for former student again

By Liz Navratil

A federal judge once again delayed setting a trial date for a former Pitt student accused of… A federal judge once again delayed setting a trial date for a former Pitt student accused of making bomb threats to two University buildings in April 2008.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer extended, for the third time, Louisa Ewuresi Nkrumah’s deadline to file pre-trial motions, which are now due July 31. Pre-trial motions are anything that would affect the need to have or the conduct of a trial. They must be filed before a trial date can be set.

The deadline was extended to give Nkrumah’s lawyer, Cynthia Reed Eddy, “reasonable time necessary for effective preparation,” according to court documents.

Nkrumah, of Harrisburg, is charged with using a telephone to “willfully threaten … to unlawfully damage or destroy” the Cathedral of Learning and Posvar Hall. She declined to comment on her trial.

Reed Eddy did not return phone calls as of press time.