Judge closes mental competency hearing for homicide suspect

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Feb. 15—WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. granted a request for homicide suspect Kevin Novak to undergo a mental competency examination but has closed the courtroom to hear the results.

Novak, 31, was charged by state police at Wilkes-Barre with fatally shooting his father, Richard Novak, 70, during an argument at the family's double block home at 1205-1207 S. Prospect St., Nanticoke, on March 11, 2022. The shooting happened inside the 1207 side.

State police in court records say Richard Novak was shot multiple times in the upper body. Multiple .40 caliber shell casings were observed on the floor in the room where the elder Novak was found.

A spent round was found embedded in the floorboard beneath Richard Novak indicating the victim was shot while lying on the floor, court records say.

A 94-year-old woman seated next to Richard Novak at the time of the shooting was not harmed.

Troopers recovered a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun that is registered to Kevin Novak inside 1207 S. Prospect St., where he resided.

Sklarosky recently filed an order scheduling a competency hearing for Feb. 24 but noted either "In closed court or in-camera" review.

It was not immediately known if prosecutors are permitted in the closed courtroom for Novak's competency hearing.

Previously, mental competency hearings have been open to the public and media.

But, a Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Marc W. Nuzzo, issued Oct. 18, 2022, ruled that competency hearings for defendants are to be held outside the public view due to the state's Mental Health Procedure Act.

Sklarosky closed Novak's competency hearing, noting the appellate court ruling in Nuzzo.

Novak's motion for a mental health evaluation, filed by his attorney, Luzerne County Chief Public Defender Steven M. Greenwald, was sealed by Sklarosky.

Novak is charged with criminal homicide. Six counts of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and a single count of reckless endangerment were withdrawn by prosecutors at Novak's preliminary hearing held June 16.

Trial is tentatively scheduled to begin July 24.