JUDGE TO LIMIT DEFENSE SPENDING IN BRACKENRIDGE MAN’S TRIAL

A judge said she will limit the defense spending of taxpayer funds in the upcoming trial of a Brackenridge man charged with killing his 9-year-old son.  The Trib reports that Common Pleas Court Judge Meghan Billik-Defazio said yesterday that excessive costs incurred by public defenders in the case of Jean Charles already exceeded budgeted limits for all court-paid expert witnesses.  Charles is accused of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and other offenses involving the May 2022 death of his son, Azure Charles. According to police, the boy was strangled, dragged over an embankment and hidden under lawn furniture near his East Ken Manor home in New Kensington.  If he is convicted, prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty.