4 Men Arrested In Kittanning Beating Death In Court
KITTANNING (KDKA) -- The four men who are facing charges in a fatal beating in Armstrong County went before a magistrate today. The incident happened over St. Partick's Day weekend, and today their lawyers said it was self-defense.
The suspects, 32-year-old Keith Brison, 43-year-old Otilio Cosme, 23-year-old Dennis Rosenberger and 18-year-old Anthony Bove, were all hauled into Armstrong County court Wednesday.
But just a quickly they were taken back to jail.
Their attorneys postponed the hearing until they can get lab results on the victim, 39-year-old James Sullivan of Chicora.
"Showing whether the victim, alleged victim, had any – besides alcohol – any drugs in his system and so forth," said Jim Ecker, the defense attorney.
"Without question this is a self-defense case," added defense attorney Phil DiLucente.
The four men are accused of beating and stomping the victim to death. It happened on St. Patrick's Day weekend outside of the Wick City Saloon in Kittanning.
Authorities say an argument started inside the bar and turned deadly in the street. But attorneys claim the defendants are the one who were being attacked.
"Our clients respectively had walked away just trying to get to their vehicles when actually they were the ones being attacked," said DiLucente.
Even so, all four men are in the Armstrong County Jail charged with homicide.
"This is no more than a manslaughter case; and quite frankly, my client as well as Mr. Ecker's client shouldn't even be here, but we're going to defend them appropriately," DiLucente added.
RELATED LINKS:
Armstrong Co. Fight Leaves 1 Man Dead (3/18/13)
4 Arrested In Connection With Armstrong Co. Beating Death (3/21/13)
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