A second Monongalia County Circuit Court judge declined to set bond for a man accused of shooting another man to death.
Michael Corney, 34, was indicted by a grand jury for the first-degree murder of Chadwick Malone, on Sept. 23, 2020.
At a Monday motions hearing, his attorney Brandon Shumaker asked Judge Susan Tucker, who was assigned the case, to set bond for Corney.
Corney appeared by video from North Central Regional Jail, where he has been held since the Morgantown Police Department arrested him Oct. 13 during a traffic stop near Marilla Park.
“Denied,” Tucker said after hearing the arguments from both Shumaker and Prosecutor Perri DeChristopher.
Corney is a Mon County resident with three children and three stepchildren. If bond was set and posted, Corney would live with his sister in Westover, Shumaker said. He also had potential employment with a landscaping company owned by his cousin. Before his arrest, Corney was working on a drilling rig, he said.
DeChristopher said the state opposed bond being set. She pointed out this is a first-degree murder case that occurred in broad daylight with no fight, confrontation or fistfight prior to the shooting, which she called premeditated.
DeChristopher also brought up Corney’s previous convictions, which include a first-degree robbery conviction. Tucker did grant Shumaker’s motion to continue the case until June.
Some discovery, or the evidence shared between the prosecution and defense, was ready for Shumaker, and more was still being prepared, DeChristopher said. However, forensic testing had not been completed for the case.
Tucker said she was surprised by that, as the alleged crime happened in September, and the judge asked if DeChristopher needed a letter or order to help move things on. DeChristopher replied no.
Corney was denied bond in November by Judge Phillip Gaujot, after Magistrate Ron Bane found probable cause, and bound the case over to circuit court until it could be presented to a grand jury. Both attorneys made roughly the same arguments in that hearing.
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