Indiana Supreme Court asked to reconsider David Camm decision

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July 28, 2009

Floyd prosecutor argues defense opened door to molestation claims

By MATT THACKER The News and Tribune Tue Jul 28, 2009, 02:01 PM EDT

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a petition Monday asking the Indiana Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to overturn David Camm’s triple-murder conviction.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said at a press conference Monday that he “respectfully disagrees” with the Supreme Court’s 4-1 decision.

The state argues that Camm’s defense waived any objection to allowing evidence that Camm molested his daughter by repeatedly bringing up its own molestation claims throughout the trial.

Camm has twice been convicted of murdering his wife, Kimberly, 35, and children, Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, in September 2000. The first conviction was overturned by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The second was overturned June 26 by the Indiana Supreme Court.

While the state’s highest court ruled enough evidence of Camm’s guilt exists to order to grant a new trial, it found that the trial court should not have admitted hearsay testimony from a family friend or allowed the prosecutor to argue Camm molested his daughter.

The petition states that Camm’s defense attorneys had actually argued the molestation evidence should be admitted into court, so they could argue that Charles Boney molested the girl.

Boney was convicted in 2006 of three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 225 years in prison for the three deaths. A sweatshirt with Boney’s DNA was found under the son’s body, and his palm print was found at the scene. Boney claimed he provided Camm a gun and was present at the murder.

“The defense believed the evidence was relevant and also germane to the case to show Charles Boney committed the molestation,” Henderson said.

The petition states that it is not possible to identify why the court determined Camm’s conviction was overturned and asked the court to clarify its ruling.

“We respect the [Supreme] Court’s rulings, but in this instance we believe the majority decision overlooked key parts of the trial record and the State’s arguments, leaving a confusing precedent for lower courts to follow,” Zoeller said in a press release.

Henderson said that if the court is saying prosecutors cannot enter into evidence that a girl was molested within 24 hours of her murder, then that would rewrite Indiana law.

Henderson said he calculated that 97 percent of his case was based on evidence other than the molestation. Only about 4 percent of his closing arguments dealt with the molestation, the state argues.

The prosecutor said he never linked Camm to the molestation until closing arguments, which he says should have been permitted given the defense’s frequent claims that Boney molested the girl.

The petition also states Camm’s defense waived the right to object to a hearsay statement allegedly from Kim to Cindy Mattingly, Kim’s friend, about David Camm’s whereabouts after the crime. The petition says the defense failed to ask for admonishment prior to the admission of the evidence during Camm’s trial.

Henderson still stands behind comments made in the closing arguments and says the prosecution’s mistake was in not explaining themselves well enough to the Supreme Court.

“Evidently, we didn’t do a good enough job explaining the waiver,” Henderson said. “It’s hard to anticipate what the Supreme Court will look at the most.”

The Supreme Court could grant a new hearing, reverse its decision without a hearing or reject the petition outright.

Camm’s attorneys have 20 days to file their response. Camm meanwhile remains at the Indiana Department of Correction until after the Supreme Court decides whether to rehear the case.

Henderson said he is confident the Supreme Court will grant a rehearing, but noted he also was confident the conviction would be upheld.

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