The trial of Justin Libengood is scheduled to get underway today in Indiana County Court. The 31-year-old Latrobe man is charged with aggravated assault, prohibited possession of a firearm, attempted robbery, and criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure.
Libengood was taken into custody on July 14th last year, two weeks after a shooting at the Days Inn in Burrell Township. State police say he met David McGinnis of Bolivar inside a room at the hotel, pulled a handgun and tried to rob him. The two struggled over the gun and a shot was fired, grazing McGinnis in the back of the neck.
Both Libengood and McGinnis were arrested, as was Matraca Vrana of Northern Cambria, McGinnis’s girlfriend. Drug charges were dropped against McGinnis, but he is facing several other trials in Westmoreland County in separate cases. Vrana’s case was adjudicated in Indiana County, but she is also facing charges in Westmoreland County.
Yesterday, Judge Thomas Bianco granted in part and denied in part several motions dealing with the presentation of evidence against Libengood. McGinnis is expected to testify in the trial.
Also today, President Judge William Martin will preside over the trial of 32-year-old Andrew Kirk Rankin of Creekside, who is charged with possession with intent to deliver and with possession of a controlled substance.
Rankin previously pleaded guilty in Plea Court, but withdrew that plea and opted for a jury trial.
