Scott Vincent Sica appears in a Yadkin County courtroom on June 3 for a hearing in the trial regarding the 1996 murder of Jonesville Police Sgt. Greg Martin. Sica has been charged with first degree murder and could face the death penalty in the case if he’s found guilty. Sica’s case will be continued to Oct. 28.
Scott Vincent Sica appeared in a Yadkin County courtroom on Monday for his first hearing since late January in the trial regarding the slaying of Jonesville police Sgt. Greg Martin in 1996.
The hearing was to confirm that the District Attorney’s office was meeting the defense’s expectations on delivery of discovery materials and to decide a date for an arraignment.
Judge Edward B. Gregory of Wilkesboro presided over the court and ruled that the arraignment hearing would be continued to the Oct. 28 court session.
District Attorney Tom Horner addressed Judge Gregory in regard to the state’s discovery.
“At last meeting the state indicated that there were 150 law enforcement agency contacts that the state was involved with during discovery,” Horner said. “Since that time the SBI, the Jonesville Police Department, the FBI and our office have been involved in going back through the discovery we had at that point in time and now the contact points are up to 738.”
Horner said that the state has turned over approximately 100,000 pages of discovery to the defense and two spreadsheets full of updates to their discovery.
“The court indicates that your honor wanted the state to provided updates periodically to the defense lawyers with regard to the status of our contacts and the status of the discovery, and we did that,” Horner said. “We intend to continue to do that.”
Horner also shared that the state has enlisted the help of an IT staff member from the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts in order to free up their more experienced staff to work in more specialized areas.
Horner suggested to Judge Gregory that the matter be continued to Oct. 28 and that the arraignment be postponed until that time.
Defense attorneys Daniel J. Dolan and Vincent F. Rabil agreed to the motion.
“Assuming there is not a massive amount of discovery that looks like it’s going to come in to us prior to the Oct. 28 date it looks like it’s probably going to be agreeable,” Rabil said.
Sica was arrested on charges of first-degree murder in October 2012. On January 28 Brian Eugene Whittaker and Marc Peterson Oldroyd were charged with first-degree murder in the Martin case.
Whittaker and Oldroyd also received hearings on June 3 to determine if the district attorney can pursue the death penalty. Judge Gregory continued both men’s hearings to Aug. 19.
When Whittaker took the stand for his first appearance he shared his version of what took place the night of Oct. 5, 1996, claiming that Sica was the shooter in the crime.
According to statements made by Whittaker during his cross examination by the defense, the three men had plans to rob a Huddle House in Jonesville, but their robbery was nixed after an employee shut the back door of the restaurant that the trio planned to use as an entry.
Whittaker said that following the botched robbery he and Sica parted ways with Oldroyd and he and Sica started to leave town in a stolen Dodge truck when Sgt. Gregory Martin stopped them on I-77 in Jonesville.
Whittaker said that Martin asked the two men to step out of the vehicle while he searched the interior. Martin then pulled out a duffle bag containing masks and robbery paraphernalia that Whittaker and Sica had used for their crimes, according to Whittaker. Sica then opened fire on Martin, shooting him at point blank range, according to Whittaker.
Whittaker said that he and Sica then fled the scene and headed to Tennessee.
Oldroyd was given his first appearance hearing on Jan. 28 and was denied bond due to his charges. He did not speak during his hearing.
Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@civitasmedia.com.
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