« Ind. Decisions - "Insurer Groups, State Trade File Joint Amicus with Supreme Court" [Updated] | Main | Law - Judges and lawyers behaving badly - a second example this week »

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Ind. Courts - Yet more on: South Bend Osco Triple Murder Trial

This August 6th ILB entry, like the July 10th entry before it, began "The ILB generally doesn't cover murder trials, but ...". Following up on those entries, here is a report this evening from Mark Peterson of WNDU, South Bend:

The prime suspect in South Bend’s Osco triple homicide case has been let off the legal hook.

Prosecutors have decided that Christopher Allen will not be tried for a fourth time in connection with the 1990 robbery and triple murder at the Osco on Western Avenue.

According to special prosecutor Michael McAlexander, “there aren't a lot of surprises in this after this amount of time, the witnesses have been called at least, most of them five times under oath.” * * *

According to McAlexander, time and time again, jurrors have had mixed reactions: “even on the jury that convicted, there were at least two of the alternates in that jury that would have voted not guilty.”

Allen's lone conviction was overturned by the court of appeals. Today Prosecutor Michael Dvorak announced that that Allen’s third trial--the one that ended in July of this year with a hung jury--would be his last: “we believe that we're stuck with a set of facts that at best will render another hung jury, that we don't have the evidence with which after three trials to secure a conviction.

From the South Bend Tribune:
Allen was fired as store manager for stealing about five months before the slayings.

Allen was not charged until 1999, nine years after the murders, when then-prosecutor Chris Toth filed the murder charges as part of his public vow to clear prominent cold cases.

In 2001, Allen’s trial, held in downstate Henry County because of pretrial publicity in St. Joseph County, ended in a hung jury. In 2002, Allen was convicted, but that verdict was overturned on appeal after he had served 576 days in prison.

Dvorak’s administration inherited the case when Dvorak defeated Toth in the 2002 election.

Another Henry County jury deadlocked 6-6 this summer, McAlexander said.

The three murder charges against Allen will be formally dismissed. Because two of his trials ended in a hung jury and his conviction was overturned on appeal, Allen does not face double jeopardy in the case and can be tried again if authorities ever uncover new evidence, Dvorak said.

Both Dvorak and McAlexander said that possibility is remote because they believe all of the evidence relating to the case has been presented during the three trials.

The third trial was the most complete prosecution yet, McAlexander said.

The financial burden of holding another trial factored into the decision but was not a major reason prosecutors declined to take Allen back to court, Dvorak said. “It was a factor, but it was only one factor,” Dvorak said.

The third trial cost $112,215 for public defender fees, investigators and other public defender-related expenses. But that number does not include the costs relating to the jury, witnesses or other associated trial finances.

And finally, from WSBT News:
“The determination is we believe we're stuck with a set of facts that will render another hung jury, can't secure a conviction,” St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak told WSBT News.

“I think as a prosecutor you have to face reality, no matter how much you believe in the case personally,” added Michael McAlexander, a special prosecutor in the case.

The three trials have cost nearly $600,000. That was also a factor in Wednesday’s decision, although not the deciding factor.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 20, 2006 09:15 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts