Attorneys for Hugo Selenski want him moved from state prison to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. He should be in a cell at the county prison, not a state prison, said Hugo's attorneys.

Attorneys John Pike and Steve Menn on Monday filed court papers asking a judge to move Selenski from the State Correctional Institution at Dallas to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility until the end of his trial.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. scheduled a hearing on the request for May 1.

Selenski, 32, was initially jailed at the county prison in Wilkes-Barre in June 2003. In October 2003, he escaped from the prison. He surrendered three days later and was held at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas in Jackson Township. He returned to the county prison for his trial in the James and Keiler deaths in February and March.

Pike said police, after charging Selenski with the Kerkowski and Fassett deaths, took Hugo back to the state prison, not the county prison. The attorney is unsure why Selenski was taken to the state prison or who made the decision to take him there. However - he hopes Selenski will be brought back to the county prison, as are most defendants awaiting trial, because he needs more access to Selenski in order to properly prepare for the Kerkowski and Fassett case.

It would be more logical for Selenski to be held at the county prison because it is located near Pike’s law office in Kingston and the attorney is restricted to visiting Selenski on only Tuesdays and Fridays at the state prison. Pike noted Selenski was held at the county prison for about a month during his trial in the James and Keiler deaths “without incident.”

Selenski’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 10 before District Judge James Tupper in Trucksville, Kingston Township. Tupper will determine whether investigators have enough evidence to take Selenski to trial in county court.

Article taken from The Times Leader.