FARMINGTON — Attorneys say they need more time to prepare for the trial of a man who shot his father in 2011.
Defense attorney Todd Utzinger said his office “is still looking into all of the background” concerning Gregory Nance, 52, who was shot March 19, 2011, by his son Joseph Allen Nance.
Joseph Allen Nance is charged with first-degree felony murder and third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
A trial scheduled for mid-February has been canceled. Another hearing is set for Feb. 25.
Nance, who is being held in Davis County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, has maintained he shot his father in self-defense.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Brandon Poll said Nance’s attorneys want to submit “prior acts of violence by the victim” as evidence.
Poll said, “We will more than likely oppose that.”
Poll said the general rule is that prior bad acts committed by a victim or by a defendant are not admissible, but there are exceptions, and it is up to the judge to determine if those acts can be submitted.
Nance is accused of shooting his father to death following an argument in which the elder Nance kicked his ex-wife and son out of the room he was renting at the Far West Motel in Kaysville.
After searching all night for Joseph Nance, police found him in a makeshift shelter in Layton.
Police said Nance later admitted to shooting his father and claimed it was in self-defense.
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