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Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Ind. Courts - "Jill Behrman’s bicycle, other evidence to be available to new murder defense team"
Keith Rhoades reported yesterday in the Bloomington Herald-Times ($$$) on the post-conviction relief motion of John Myers II - here are some quotes from the long story:
MARTINSVILLE — Morgan County Superior Court I Judge G. Thomas Gray told both the state and defense attorneys for John Myers II that the court will give the defense attorneys access to all evidence collected in the murder case, including the bicycle Jill Behrman was riding the day she disappeared.The Herald-Times has made archived stories, photos and documents on the case available on a special page (it appears the page is available, but the stories themselves are restricted to subscribers to the paper).Myers was convicted in October 2006 in Morgan County Superior Court II in the death of the IU student and Bloomington native in 2000. In December 2006, Judge Christopher Burnham sentenced Myers to 65 years in prison.
A hearing was held Monday morning on a defense request to have access to the bicycle Behrman was riding when she disappeared. The bicycle was found within two miles of Myers’ home. Her remains were found in a wooded area near Paragon in March 2003.
Myers had appealed his case up to the Indiana Supreme Court, but his conviction was upheld. Now he has filed for post-conviction relief. His case was in Superior Court II, but Myers requested it be reassigned and after a random draw, the case went to Judge Gray in Superior Court I.
Two public defenders, Anne Murray Burgess and Joanna Green, have been appointed to represent Myers.
While the defense had wanted to take the bicycle to have it examined, a discussion among the defense attorneys and Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega resulted in a compromise.
Sonnega told Judge Gray the state is willing to allow the defense, and the company they have hired, to inspect the bicycle while it is under the control of the court. The agreement allows the company to photograph and take measurements of the bicycle, but they will not, at this time, be allowed to touch it. The company will not be allowed to take paint samples or otherwise do anything to the bicycle.
Sonnega said, “I’m not sure what they hope to find. There’s not much damage to it and there will be no harm for the defense to examine and photograph it.”
Sonnega was adamant that the chain of custody for the bicycle must remain unbroken, which means the bicycle has to stay in the possession of the court. He said there must be a representative from the state present while the inspection is performed.
All evidence that was used in the trial is still under control of Judge Burnham in Superior Court II.
Judge Gray said at this time, the evidence had not been transferred to his court, but he said there is no reason to deny the defense request.
“Now it’s my case, nothing will be kept hidden from the defense,” Gray said. * * *
Burgess said they will need access to all the evidence collected during the six-year investigation. Sonnega said the state has a lot of evidence from the trial, but they did not get everything from all the agencies that took part in the investigation.
Judge Gray said all evidence collected during the investigation, from when it began in 2000, will be available to the defense. That includes evidence from the Indiana State Police, Bloomington Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also assisted with the investigation.
The judge said, if needed, he would sign orders making that evidence available to the defense.
Myers is being held at the state prison in Michigan City. He did not attend his hearing. Behrman’s father did attend the hearing.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 1, 2010 10:46 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts