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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Ind. Law - Several Indiana papers look back on 2009

"Floyd County Top Stories of 2009," compiled in the News & Tribune, leads off with:

David Camm’s conviction overturned; headed to third trial

The State of Indiana decided earlier this month to try David Camm for the third time for the murders of his wife and two children..

Camm, the 45-year-old former Indiana State Police trooper, has twice been convicted of murdering Kimberly, 35, Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, in September 2000 at their home in Georgetown. The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the first conviction based on the inclusion of testimony of Camm’s extramarital affairs and that the testimony prejudiced the jury.

A jury in Warrick County then found Camm guilty in 2006 during a second trial. That conviction was overturned in a 4-1 Supreme Court decision June 26 because of statements from the prosecutor that Camm had molested his daughter. The court voted 3-2 this month to deny Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s request for a rehearing on that appeal.

Camm would have walked home a free man if Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson chose not to prosecute.

A site and date for a third trial has yet to be determined, but will likely begin in 2010.

The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reporter Arthur Foulkes' story, "Reflections: Political Battles & City Moves," begins:
TERRE HAUTE — Mayor Duke Bennett surviving a legal challenge launched by former Mayor Kevin Burke may have been the single biggest city government news story of 2009.

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in June that Burke’s challenge to Bennett’s eligibility for the 2007 election, which Bennett won by 110 votes, came too late — after the election was over. The justices’ 5-0 decision, which also expressed reluctance to overturn an election based on “formal or technical objections,” ended a 19-month legal battle.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 31, 2009 07:38 AM
Posted to General Law Related