Attempted homicide suspect may not get go to trial By Jessica La Plante News-Chronicle A 26-year-old Green Bay man whose attempted homicide conviction was reversed in April might not be able to attend his long-awaited day in court. At a motion hearing Tuesday, Luis Vasquez-Rivera's attorney informed the court that his client was in a coma, battling terminal brain cancer. Unless Vasquez-Rivera's condition improves, defense attorney Joseph Norby said he would most likely ask the court to declare his client incompetent to stand trial. The illness means that Vasquez-Rivera might not get the chance to show a Brown County jury he was innocent of attempting to fatally shoot Steven Nicholas in the parking lot of a De Pere bar on July 19, 2001. At a plea hearing two years ago, Vasquez-Rivera was found guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide after he entered a no contest plea to the felony charge. However, Vasquez-Rivera's 15-year prison sentence was reversed in April after a judge ruled his constitutional rights were violated during the plea bargaining process. Because Vasquez-Rivera does not speak fluent English and was not furnished with an interpreter at the plea hearing, Brown County Circuit Court Judge William Atkinson approved the defendant's motion to retract his guilty plea. Vasquez-Rivera's case was scheduled for a jury trial on Oct. 15, at which time he intended to prove the shooting was performed out of self-defense. However, any plans for a jury trial were put on hold Tuesday, when Atkinson adjourned the case for a status conference on Jan. 9, pending improvement of the defendant's physical health.