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Sunday, March 06, 2005

Ind. Decisions - Many turns in anticipated retrial of former Indiana State Trooper David Camm

Last August the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed David Camm's three convictions for murder. Part of the opinion, as set out in this August 10, 2004 ILB entry (2nd case in list), sttaed:

We need not address any more issues in this case in detail. However, we do trust that some of the claimed instances of prosecutorial misconduct were unintentional and will not be repeated in any retrial, such as (1) questioning the defense blood spatter expert as to why his opinion conflicted with five other experts, when only two experts had testified for the State; (2) asking Camm why he did not think domestic violence was "a big deal" when there was no evidence that Camm had ever battered Kim; and (3) representing that a certain witness would be called later and could be questioned directly by defense counsel, then failing in fact to call that witness and protesting when defense counsel sought to do so.

Conclusion. Camm was unfairly prejudiced by the introduction of extensive evidence and argument regarding his poor character, where the evidence regarding his philandering was not reasonably related to any proper purpose under Indiana Evidence Rule 404(b), including proof of motive. We reverse his three convictions for murder. Reversed.
CRONE, J., and BAKER, J., concur.

The Indiana Supeme Court denied transfer. The Nov. 15th Louisville Courier Journal reported:
Floyd County, Ind., Prosecutor Keith Henderson announced this afternoon that he planned to re-file charges against former state trooper David Camm in the September 2000 murders of his wife and two children.
The CBS show, 48-Hours, featured the case on January 22nd.

The Louisville Courier Journal reports today "Ex-con arrested in Camm slayings: Former trooper's future uncertain." Some quotes from the story by Grace Schneiderand Ben Zion Hershberg:

The triple-murder case against former Indiana State Trooper David Camm took a dramatic turn yesterday when police said a second man had been charged with killing Camm's wife and two children.

But it was still unclear how the arrest would affect the case against Camm, who is facing a retrial later this year in the September 2000 slayings.

At a press conference yesterday, Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said Indiana State Police had arrested and charged Charles D. Boney, 35, of Louisville -- a convicted felon -- in the murders.

Investigators said earlier in the week that a gray sweat shirt, found at the murder scene in the garage of the Camm home in Georgetown, Ind., had been linked to Boney through DNA evidence.

Henderson had said last Monday that there was no evidence Boney was involved in the murders, though he added that investigators continued to interview him as a witness.

During the week, however, investigators checked unidentified fingerprints found at the murder scene against Boney's prints.

Henderson would only say yesterday that additional scientific evidence, delivered Friday morning, led authorities to question Boney again.

Shortly before midnight Friday, they charged him with three counts of murder, possession of a firearm by a felony offender and being a habitual felon.

Boney will have an initial hearing in Floyd Circuit Court tomorrow morning or Tuesday. That's when authorities are expected to release more details about their case against him. * * *

Camm's lawyer, Katharine Liell of Bloomington, said she was pleased by the arrest because the defense has pushed repeatedly for more analysis of the fingerprints and DNA material.

Liell, Henderson and Lockhart are prohibited from discussing the case because of a gag order issued by Warrick Superior Court Judge Robert Aylsworth. Each tried yesterday to focus comments specifically on Boney's arrest and to avoid discussing Camm and his pending trial.

Liell did say that the defense team stands ready to provide assistance in uncovering information about Boney.

Camm, 40, has spent four years behind bars and was convicted in March 2002 of fatally shooting his wife, Kimberly, 36, and two children -- Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5. The murder weapon has never been found.

He was sentenced to 195 years in prison. Last August, however, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the conviction on grounds that testimony from a dozen women that Camm propositioned or had affairs with them unfairly biased the jury.

The state Supreme Court declined to review that decision, and Henderson refiled the murder charges against Camm in November. The case was moved to Warrick County because of the publicity it had generated locally.

In January Aylsworth set a $20,000 cash bond for Camm, which was posted by Lockhart, with whom Camm since has been living.

The Camm family has repeatedly maintained his innocence, and they've spent thousands of dollars pushing appeals to free him and clear his name.

Private investigator. The family recently enlisted private investigator Gary Dunn to examine the case. Lockhart said yesterday, with Dunn at his side, that the investigator's work has been "second to none" in identifying evidence that would have resulted in Boney's arrest long ago.

"The information off the sweat shirt was available long ago," Lockhart said.

Police and prosecutors have said, however, that they still believe Camm is guilty of the murders -- and nothing was said yesterday to indicate that they've changed their minds.

[Update 3/7/05] For more, read today's story in the Louisville Courier Journal.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 6, 2005 03:44 PM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions