Man accused of murder in Bellaire could face additional charges
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - The man accused of murdering another man in Bellaire in January could face additional charges following a grand jury hearing in October.
Virginia native Sandton Browder, 23, may face an additional specification charge in the case after that grand jury, according to Belmont Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Berhalter. Browder was initially charged one count of murder and one count of having a weapon while under disability.
He allegedly shot and killed 24-year-old Jordan Dean of North Carolina at a Bellaire home on Jan. 15. On Monday morning, Browder again appeared in front of Berhalter. During the pre-trial hearing, Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Joe Vavra informed Berhalter that the state may be looking to file more charges against Browder.
"It is the state’s position that we will be readdressing this matter with the grand jury in October to add a specification to the indictment," Vavra said. "It’s not something that I think will materially affect things or cause us any issues with our current trial date. But just so the court’s aware, that may be something that we would need to address after that grand jury meets."
Vavra did not clarify what the additional specification may be.
Berhalter then asked Vavra and Browder's lawyer Belmont County public defender Lane Hanlon if either had any pending motions and no pending discovery issues to report.
"I believe that we are in receipt of all of the discovery at this point. As the state supplements that, we will review that," Hanlon said. "We have been in contact with our experts, they are still ongoing. I would ask that this be set for another review in two weeks to make sure that we are on track with our experts. We are still waiting for reports for all four of those experts, and there’s a potential that there may be a conflict with the ballistics expert with the trial date. So we just want to keep that in mind."
Berhalter granted Hanlon's request.
He set an additional review for Oct. 5. at 10 a.m. in Common Pleas court.
Berhalter reminded the court that Browder's plea agreement deadline was previously set for Dec. 14 at 10 a.m. and if no resolution is reached, trial will begin on Jan. 12.