GREENSBURG, Pa. -- Defense attorneys for state Sen. Bob Regola, who's accused of lying under oath during the investigation of a teenage neighbor found shot with the senator's gun, are asking a Westmoreland County judge to dismiss the charges.

Judge John Blahovec didn't immediately rule on the motion Wednesday morning. As a result, Regola's trial on weapons and perjury charges has been delayed until at least May.

Regola is charged with perjury because prosecutors said testimony he gave during a coroner's inquest into 14-year-old Louis Farrell's death differed from what he told state police investigators seven months earlier about where his 9 mm handgun was stored.

Also, WTAE Channel 4 Action News reported that the notes police took during their conversation with Regola are now somehow gone, and the defense believes a perjury conviction is impossible without them.

"I really cant go into details except to tell you there is a flat out contradiction between what he told police on July 22, 2006 and what he testified at the coroners inquest," Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said.

During a hearing Wednesday morning, Regola's defense team argued that evidence of Regola's interview with police on July 22 in the form of investigators notes have disappeared.

"The notes were destroyed, so they're basing it on notes that we were not privy to address what the senator said with reference to those statements," said defense attorney Duke George.

Peck said the destruction of notes is standard procedure.

"The court informed me this morning that, as far as we know, all the troopers as a matter of custom destroy all notes when they make them into final reports," said Peck.

Defense attorneys said the senator didn't lie at the inquest when he testified that he never kept the gun in his son's room in the Regolas' Hempfield home. The son, Bobby, was friends with Farrell.

"You have to look at, supposedly, what these two officers said," George said Wednesday. "Two experienced officers supposedly had notes. The notes were destroyed, so they're basing it on notes that we were never privy to, to address what the senator said in reference to those statements."

Regola's defense team also has requested the personnel records of the two troopers involved in the questioning of the senator.

At this point they are not saying why they have made that request.

The defense also accuses Peck of being biased, and they are requesting his recusal from the case.

"There's statements from Mr. Peck within days that he says there's no criminality and now all of a sudden, here we are," said defense attorney Chuck Porter.

Because Farrell's father, Doug, is scheduled to testify at trial, Regola's attorneys want a copy of the results from a series of lie detector tests that state police gave him. The lawyers allege that Doug Ferrell failed those tests.

Attorneys have 45 days to file briefs on the motions for the lie detector results and the dismissal of charges. After that, the judge will rule.

Louis Farrell was found shot dead in the woods behind the Farrells' home, next to the Regola home on Glenmeade Road, on July 22, 2006. County Coroner Ken Bacha ruled the death a suicide.

At the inquest, a state trooper testified that Regola told him on the day of the shooting that he kept the gun in Bobby's room but later hid it in his bedroom. When asked about that statement on the witness stand, Regola denied having said it.

Regola said Louis Farrell had access to his home and was watching the family's pets while the senator was away in Harrisburg.

Regola is running for a second term, but would face expulsion from office if convicted of perjury.

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