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CORNING, N.Y. -- One of the suspects in June's murder in Corning says he was acting in self-defense.

A pre-motions conference was held for Marland Brooks Friday in Steuben County Court. Brooks did not attend, but his lawyer says he plans to file motions and says Brooks acted out of self-defense.

Police say Marland Brooks, 38, of Elmira, and Samantha Smith, 28, stabbed Clark Van Etten to death in his Corning apartment two months ago. Brooks was indicted last month on one count of second degree murder. His lawyer says he has a positive outlook about the case.

"I think he feels very confident that he's going to do well. He's actually excited to get his story out because he feels in this case that he did the legally correct thing and he defended himself," said Brooks' attorney David Morabito.

Samantha Smith has not yet been indicted. Morabito says he does not represent her, but it is likely she will not be indicted on murder charges.