St. John homicide trial on hold; D-A Strouse appeals court recusal request turndown

LOCK HAVEN, PA – Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse has filed an appeal with state Superior Court, challenging President Judge Craig Miller’s recent denial of a Strouse request seeking the judge’s recusal from hearing the Brian St. John III murder trial.

As a result, jury selection scheduled for Thursday of this week has been cancelled. 100 prospective jurors had been scheduled to be in court, but a court spokesperson said Wednesday they were notified by phone Wednesday morning not to report.

The Strouse appeal means that jury selection and the trial itself, scheduled to begin Aug. 22, have been delayed pending a Superior Court decision.

Judge Miller made his ruling on July 7, after a better than one-hour hearing on the recusal request from the case prosecutor, the district attorney.

Strouse had sought a new judge because of past Miller ties between the defendant’s mother, Beth St. John, and one of the defendant’s attorneys, George Lepley. Both the mother and Lepley took the stand and answered questions from the D-A about their past involvement with the president judge. Mrs. St. John had retained Miller as an attorney in his pre-judicial days in 2006 and Lepley has known and had a relationship with Judge Miller dating to 1984.

The D-A had told the court he believes an alternate trial judge is required in the interest of fairness and justice, but Judge Miller ruled otherwise.

St. John is accused of fatally shooting Jacob Lee Haines, 21, of Beech Creek, on Feb. 26, 2021, during a gathering in at the St. John home in Woodward Twp. The accused has been in custody at the Clinton County Correctional Facility since his arrest shortly after the incident. He appeared in court Thursday in orange prison garb, without shackles.