Warrick County Superior Court No. 2 Judge Robert Aylsworth granted a request by David Camm’s attorneys last week for $75,000 from the Floyd County Public Defender’s Office to begin preparation for a third murder trial.

A motion filed in support of the request stated the money would be used for, among other things, securing out-of-state witnesses in support of their motion for a special prosecutor, gathering additional evidence to support a change of venue, determining whether additional tests need to be performed and investigating Charles Boney, who is serving 225 years in prison for his role in the murders of David Camm’s family.

That is only a small portion of what most expect it will cost for Camm’s third trial.

Camm, 45, has twice been convicted of murdering his wife, Kimberly, 35, and two children, Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, in September 2000 at their home in Georgetown.

The Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Camm’s 2002 conviction because of the prosecution’s bringing up Camm’s alleged affairs. Following the first reversal, DNA evidence linked Boney to the murder and he was found guilty in 2006 of three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Boney claimed he provided Camm with the gun and was at the scene at the time of the murder.

Camm’s case was moved to Warrick County, and he was again found guilty but that verdict was overturned last year by the Indiana Supreme Court in part because the prosecutor mentioned allegations Camm molested his daughter.

According to the Floyd County Auditor’s Office, the first two Camm trials cost about $2 million. Both sides say the third trial may cost another $1 million.

According to the auditor, the total expenditures for the public defender’s office in 2009 was $415,494. Chief Public Defender J. Patrick Biggs said that number is expected to increase although he does not know how much.

Biggs said he was not expecting to pay money upfront but that he would review the judge’s order, which he had not yet seen.

“Mr. Camm reasonably anticipates the authorizations of more funds in order to provide him with a fair and constitutional defense,” Camm’s attorneys wrote to the judge.

Camm’s public defenders, Richard Kammen and Stacy Uliana, are paid $90 per hour. Biggs said that is the minimum amount allowed by the state’s public defender office.

Money has been a major factor throughout the process, and both sides in the case have tried to paint the other as trying to waste taxpayer money.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson previously argued that Camm should be treated like any other indigent inmate and be appointed a local public defender rather than be allowed to hire one through the state public defender’s office.

Biggs said his office was unable to represent Camm due to conflicts with representing different people involved in the case.

“We have so many conflicts with people who have testified or may testify that we had to get off the case,” he said.

Uliana has said they expect new tests and analysis will need to be performed, such as “touch DNA” which can be used on surfaces even if there is no visible stain.

She wants the case moved to Northern Indiana due to media publicity in the southern half of the state, and she said the prosecutor should not try to fight it. The judge recently ruled that questionnaires will be sent to 200 randomly selected Warrick County residents to determine how much they know about the case.

“I do believe the questions will show a polluted jury pool in Warrick County,” Uliana said. “I also hope that the change of venue will not result in a contested hearing, which will only cost Floyd County more money and delay the third trial even further.”

A combination of fortunate timing and planning ahead means that the county does have money set aside to pay for the trial.

“We’re actually not as bad (financially) as we could have been,” Biggs said.

Biggs said his department has $100,000 in a supplemental fund used to pay outside attorneys. He said that about $10,000 has been paid each of the last two years to outside attorneys due to conflicts.

Floyd County Council President Ted Heavrin said $1 million was recently set aside for the Camm case after the county received a sizable reimbursement from the state’s takeover of child welfare services.

“When the state took over the department, they gave us $2 million. We put half in a rainy day fund to use for David Camm if needed,” Heavrin said.

Even before the refund, the county had set aside $50,000 for the Camm case. The county can also receive up to a $50,000 reimbursement from the state, under Indiana Code.

The case remains in Warrick County jurisdiction for now, and no hearings have been set.