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Murder trial may be delayed
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009
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The man accused of shooting and killing his brother at his Port Republic home may have his jury trial rescheduled for a second time.
Fifty-year-old Ricky Salvatore's original trial date, scheduled for Dec. 8, was rescheduled to May 4, but his attorney, Robert Harvey Jr. of Prince Frederick, asked for a good cause hearing to again reschedule the trial at Salvatore's pretrial hearing on Jan. 5 at the Calvert County Circuit Court.
Harvey told the court that he has a conflict with the May 4 date and will be out of town and unavailable.
Salvatore was indicted on June 16 for the murder of his brother Robert Chris Salvatore, who was shot and killed on June 1 at the residence they shared in Port Republic. Through investigation, the police learned that Ricky Salvatore allegedly shot his brother several times in the chest and neck with a rifle while Chris Salvatore was sitting in a folding chair outside of the residence watching T.V., according to charging documents.
Ricky Salvatore said he does not recall getting the gun or firing it, and admitted using marijuana cigarettes dipped in PCP and drinking beer prior to the incident, police records state. Salvatore's wife, Elizabeth Salvatore, who was at the residence at the time of the shooting, told police that she did not see her husband shoot his brother, but she knew her husband shot him, according to charging documents.
Salvatore was indicted on June 16 with seven charges that include first-and second-degree murder, first-degree assault and using a magazine with a capacity of more than 20 rounds of ammunition in the commission of a felony, according to court records.
Judge Warren Krug, who has presided over the case and granted the first continuance of the scheduled December trial on Nov. 24, 2008, will need to evaluate Harvey's request for a good cause hearing for a second continuance, said Judge Marjorie Clagett, who sat on the bench for the criminal docket on Jan. 5.
On Aug. 8, a plea of not criminally responsible was entered for Salvatore, but after a mental health status report, the court found Salvatore competent to stand trial on Nov. 21, according to judicial records.
At a bond hearing on July 11, Assistant State's Attorney Frances Longwell, prosecutor of the case, argued that Salvatore was a flight risk since he could receive a life sentence and that the state was concerned about the safety of the community. However, Judge Marjorie Clagett set a $350,000 bond at the hearing. Clagett said she was required by law to follow the Calvert County District Court's initial bond, set at $350,000. The circuit court can lower a bond, but it cannot raise a bond from the district court, she explained at the hearing. Salvatore has not posted the 100 percent cash or property value bond, and remains at the Calvert County Detention Center, according to court records.
