June 17, 2004

Indiana Decisions - Attorney General appeals Judge Barker's ruling re death row inmate

"Ruling for new trial in slayings contested" is the headline to this story today in the Evanville Courier&Press. Some quotes:

The Indiana attorney general contends a federal judge overstepped her boundaries when she overturned the conviction of death row inmate James Patrick Harrison because of "judicial bias" by a Posey County judge.

In a brief filed Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, Attorney General Steve Carter contends U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker should have deferred to state court judges, who have upheld Harrison's 1991 conviction in the death of two children. "The (federal) district court failed to apply the proper degree of deference to the Indiana Supreme Court's disposition of this claim," wrote deputy attorney general James Martin in the appeal. Martin also argues that Barker was incorrect when she ruled that Harrison's attorneys showed "actual judicial bias" was demonstrated during Harrison's trial by Posey Circuit Judge James Redwine. * * *

In her order, Barker said Redwine demonstrated "actual bias" before and during the trial, after Harrison's attorneys made public information that Forsee, before her death, had told police she had information that Redwine and other influential politicians had been involved in illegal drug activity. Police investigators later testified they didn't believe Forsee's statements. But Barker found that Redwine should have removed himself from the case after the allegation was brought to him by Harrison's attorneys.

Instead, according to Barker's order, Redwine called his own witness to testify during a hearing on the matter, abruptly moved the trial date up by two months and refused to allow Harrison's attorneys to raise the allegation in court without his permission, or to offer any testimony or evidence of an alibi Harrison claimed to have.

A copy of Judge Barker's decision in Harrison v. Anderson (SD Ind., 1/22/04) is available here.

A second Courier&Press story, from 6/15/04, is available here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi at June 17, 2004 09:54 AM