Supreme Court: Camm to remain in prison

Clark County

Discussion

September 11, 2012

Supreme Court: Camm to remain in prison

His trial is still set for August, but no venue has been determined

WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS newsroom@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Sep 11, 2012, 05:43 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — David Camm’s request to be released from prison as he awaits a third murder trial for the killings of his wife and two children was dismissed late Monday by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Camm’s lawyers argued in a Sept. 4 filing with the court that he should be released because of a two-year delay in the trial they say was sparked by Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson’s failure to recognize a conflict of interest in signing a deal to write a book about the case. The book deal has since been dropped. But the justices said in a three-page order that the delay was Camm’s own doing because he obtained a stay during the legal battle over the prosecutor’s role.

His attorneys, Richard Kammen and Stacy Uliana, both of Indianapolis, previously stated that their client’s incarceration prevents him from being able to prepare for his third triple-murder trial, which has been slated for August 2013.

Camm’s defense attorney and Henderson didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

The former Indiana State Trooper was convicted in 2002 and again in 2006 for the slaying of his wife, Kim, 35, and their two children, Jill, 5, and Bradley, 7. Both convictions were later overturned, leading to a third trial.

“We are pleased that the Court saw that this filing was a needless delay in the case,” Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for the Indiana attorney general’s office, said in an email Tuesday, according to an Associated Press report.

Corbin said that state attorneys would assist the special prosecutor as needed.

Special Prosecutor Stan Levco, of Perry County, said he was satisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision.

“I was pleased. I thought that is how they were going to rule,” he said.

A trial venue for next year’s trial has not been set, but prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to move the third trial to a county north of Indianapolis because of extensive local news coverage.

Levco said the next hearing is set for October, at which time a venue location for the upcoming trial could be decided upon.

Camm has maintained his innocence, the AP reported, saying 11 people testified that he was playing basketball with them in a church gymnasium at the time of the slayings.

Another man, Charles Boney, is serving 225 years in prison after a 2006 trial in which DNA tests linked him to the crime scene. Prosecutors contend Boney was Camm’s accomplice.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report