NORWICH – Accused murderer Peter M. Wlasiuk appeared in Chenango County Court Thursday afternoon to have a new attorney appointed because he could no longer afford his retained defense attorney.
Broome County Court Judge Martin E. Smith appointed the same lawyer that has been retained by Wlasiuk to now represent him as his public defender, Randel Scharf, of Cooperstown.
Scharf had previously reported to the court he would be unable to represent Wlasiuk any longer because of the family’s lack of funds to pay for his defense, which has cost over $30,000 so far, said Scharf. As his assigned counsel, the cost of Wlasiuk’s defense fees will be shouldered by the tax payers.
While in the 30 minute proceeding, Scharf protested to the paper work that dismissed the original indictment and then gave the District Attorney’s Office permission to resubmit the charge. “That is not to be decided today, Mr. Scharf, we are here today to find out who is going to be representing Mr. Wlasiuk,” said Smith.
Smith said he had appointed Scharf as the public defender because he had “command of the record,” meaning any new attorney would have to go over thousands of pages worth of paper work before being able to move ahead with trial, which would delay proceedings even longer. The defense now has 30 days to file the motion and then the prosecution has 30 more to file their responses. No court date was scheduled for Wlasiuk’s return.
Wlasiuk was arrested on April 8, 2002 and later found guilty of second degree murder for allegedly killing his wife Patricia. He was sentenced to 25 years to life, Jan. 3, 2003.
His conviction was appealed last year and he has since been awaiting a retrial. His past indictment was later thrown out by Judge Smith citing similar findings as the state Appellate Division.
Wlasiuk is currently being held at the Chenango County Correctional Facility without bail.

e-mail: tmurphy@evesun.com