The Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office will be allowed to prosecute the case against Kenneth Robert Michaels, 67, the CEO of Cable Services Company Inc. accused of fatally shooting his brother-in-law just steps inside the facility in August 2023, a Superior Court judge ruled, according to PennLive.com.

The ruling came after Michaels’ defense attorney, Edward Rymza challenged an August 2024 ruling by Lycoming County Judge Ryan Tira that barred District Attorney Tom Marino from having any involvement in the case, but stopped short of recusing the entire District Attorney’s office from prosecuting the case.

Marino voluntarily recused himself prior to the May 28, 2024 hearing the matter, First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade testified, adding that he had already preemptively blocked Marino from accessing electronic files pertaining to the case out of concern a recusal request might be forthcoming.

Rymza had sought to move the case to the state Attorney General’s Office for handling, arguing that the requirements imposed by Tira are not enforceable because his assistants already know the desires of their boss, according to PennLive.com.

Several issues were raised by Rymza during the hearing, including Marino’s seat with Wade during Michaels’ preliminary hearing, as well as at a November bail hearing. These hearings were held before Marino returned as District Attorney in December, the attorney argued.

Wade countered that Marino simply sat next to him, but offered no input on his handling of the hearings.

A month after the shooting, Marino accompanied county detective Stephen Sorage as he conducted an interview with a Cable Services Co. employee in her home, according to Rymza.

“This is just between us. It doesn’t leave this room. We were never here,” Marino allegedly told the employee at the conclusion of the interview, the employee said.

Other past personal interactions between Marino and Roskowski were a point of contention for Rymza, including at least one occasion on which Marino drove Roskowski to an inpatient drug treatment facility, Marino and his family being among social guests on Cable Services’ corporate plane when Roskowski was the CEO in mid-2020, and a phone call made to Roskowski in June of last year seeking financial support for his campaign for district attorney.

In his ruling, Tira barred Marino from discussing the case with any member of the District Attorney’s Office and anyone on the defense’s side, as well as members of the media. Marino must also refrain from attending any hearings related to the case, even as an observer.

Wade was directed to keep all physical documentation of the case in a separate area from other cases, and be kept under lock and key within his office.

“I had no personal relationship with John,” Marino previously told the Sun-Gazette.

“John and I were not friends. I helped him enter rehab once. I even busted him for drugs back in the 90s,” Marino said at the time.

The nature of the ruling required Superior Court permission before it could be appealed. Such requests seldom are granted, Rymzsa said, according to PennLive.com, adding that while the matter is settled for now, it may be raised again following the trial, depending on its outcome.

Michaels does not deny that he carried out the shooting, though he claims it was done in self-defense.

He remains incarcerated without bail since his arrest in Cape May, New Jersey, 10 days after the shooting, following a separate ruling from the Superior Court, which upheld Tira’s decision to deny bail for Michaels, finding that it is “substantially more likely than not that the defendant has committed an offense that could result in a life sentence.”