(Flandreau, SD) — The man charged with murdering Moody County Deputy Sheriff Ken Prorok last February during a pursuit is asking for a delay in the trial as he faces the death penalty. Joseph Hoek is set to appear in a motions hearing at the Moody County Courthouse this afternoon. The first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin on May 19th. However, Hoek’s attorney requested it be delayed on grounds of further psychiatric evaluation and to seek a potential insanity plea. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says he will be attending today’s hearing. According to Jackley, the alleged murder of a state law enforcement officer qualifies for a capital punishment case, which would be death by lethal injection.
