A suspected murder accomplice is insisting on going to trial with the gunman charged in the shooting death of Andre Corbett in January 2013.
The prosecutor and Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier said trying Zihqwan Clemens, who is charged as the getaway driver, at the same time as alleged triggerman Keith Wells-Holmes could pose judicial problems.
Billmeier and Assistant Mercer Prosecutor Tom Meidt said such a trial is fraught with the problem of conflicting suspect statements and seems a set up to create avenues for appeal.
Clemens, who is being represented by lawyer George Somers, last month was offered 30 years in prison for his guilty plea to being the getaway driver the day Holmes allegedly shot Corbett to death in the street.
Billmeier again warned him Monday that if he goes to trial and gets convicted he could get up to 75 years in prison at sentencing. But Clemens elected to roll the dice.
Billmeier asked the opposing lawyers to submit legal arguments to him about why the suspects should or should not be tried together.
If the case goes to trial, it will make for a busy 2015 for Meidt, who already has the retrial of alleged killer gang leader Carlos Negrete set for February.