Juston Moore is escorted out of Warren County court hearing in 2023.

A Warren County judge has granted an additional 30 days for an appellate brief to be filed in the post-conviction case of Juston K. Moore after his attorney missed a filing deadline.

Moore, who is serving a mandatory life sentence without parole for the 2022 killing of his grandmother, appeared by video Tuesday for a hearing before Judge Todd A. Woodin to determine whether he had abandoned his appeal under Pennsylvania’s Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA).

The hearing stemmed from the failure of Moore’s appointed attorney, Alan Conn, Esq., to file an appellate brief with the Pennsylvania Superior Court by the required June deadline.

Conn told the court he never received the briefing schedule and therefore was unaware of the filing deadline. He said he has since filed a complaint regarding the issue and acknowledged that the draft brief has not yet been completed.

During the hearing, Woodin asked whether Conn had been able to communicate with Moore about the appeal.

“He didn’t come to the phone to speak with me,” Conn told the court.

Woodin said he would “take Mr. Conn at his word” that the missed deadline resulted from not receiving the court’s scheduling information rather than an intentional failure to pursue the appeal.

The judge found Moore had not abandoned his appeal and ruled that he may continue to pursue post-conviction relief. Moore did not object to Conn continuing to represent him on appeal.

Woodin gave Conn 30 additional days to prepare and file the appellate brief with the Superior Court.

Moore was granted PCRA relief in 2025 that restored his right to file a direct appeal, making the appellate brief the next step in the case.

Moore pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2022 killing of his grandmother, Kelly D. Wadsworth, 60, of Warren. Investigators said Moore struck Wadsworth multiple times in the head with a hammer, placed her body in a recycling bin outside the home, and drove away in her vehicle.

Before sentencing, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Curtis Mayernik testified that Moore suffered from multiple mental health disorders, including disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit disorder, borderline personality disorder and a marijuana use disorder. Despite those diagnoses, Moore was found competent to stand trial and was sentenced to the mandatory penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.