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| ===Lead-up to Third Trial - January 2010 to present day=== | ===Lead-up to Third Trial - January 2010 to present day=== | ||
| ====2010==== | ====2010==== | ||
| In June |
In June, Attorneys for Camm asked the ] to appoint a special judge after presiding Judge Robert Aylsworth in Warrick County Superior Court failed to rule on a motion to change venue within 30 days. Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said he has never seen an attorney ask for a judge to be removed from a case after only 32 or 33 days and remembers only a few times a judge has ever been removed under what is known as the “lazy judge rule.” <ref>{{cite news|url=http://newsandtribune.com/davidcamm/x1996918021/Supreme-Court-asked-to-appoint-special-judge-in-Camm-case|title=Supreme Court asked to appoint special judge in Camm case|publisher=News and Tribune|author=Thacker,Matt|date=2010-06-08}}</ref> | ||
| In July |
In July, the ] appointed Spencer Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Dartt as a special judge to handle Camm's third trial. <ref name="cj-07-10a">{{cite news|title=Camm retrial gets new judge: Dartt's appointment|publisher=Courier-Journal|date=2010-07-13|author=Hershberg, Ben Zion|pages=B1}}</ref> Katharine Liell, who had represented Camm since shortly after his first conviction in 2002, withdrew as lead defense attorney because she had become busy with her family and legal practice. Indianapolis defense attorney Richard Kammen replaced her.<ref>{{cite news|title=Camm gets new primary lawyer: Liell withdraws|author=Hershberg, Ben Zion|date=2010-01-09|pages=B1|publisher=Courier-Journal}}</ref> The ] described Kammen as one of the state's most prominent death penalty case lawyers, and the Camm case as the most important of his career.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/indystar/access/2516062561.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+21%2C+2011&author=Chris+Sikich&pub=Indianapolis+Star&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=The+death-penalty+trial+of+his+life|title=The death-penalty trial of his life|author=Sikich, Chris|pages=A1|date=2012-11-21}}</ref> | ||
| In February |
In February, the defense moved to have Keith Henderson, the prosecutor from the second trial, removed from the case because he had signed a deal, for which he was paid $4,000 in advance, to write a book about the shooting of Camm's family. Henderson signed the contract less than a month before Camm's second conviction was thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court. <ref>{{cite news|title=David Camm's attorneys appeal ruling, seek prosecutor's removal|publisher=Courier-Journal|date=2011-02-18|author=Adams, Harold J.}}</ref> | ||
| ====2011==== | ====2011==== | ||
Revision as of 05:10, 15 May 2013
| David Camm | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1964-03-23) March 23, 1964 (age 60) Indiana, USA |
| Criminal status | In custody awaiting a third trial |
| Conviction(s) | Not currently convicted of any crime, indicted and tried twice for triple murder |
| Criminal penalty | Not convicted |
David Camm (born March 23, 1964) is a former Indiana State Trooper due to be tried for a third time for killing his wife Kim Camm, 35 and the couple's two children Brad, 7, and Jill, 5, at their Georgetown, Indiana home on Thursday, September 28, 2000. Camm has been in custody, mostly at the Pendleton Correctional Facility near Indianapolis, except in early 2005 when he was out on bond between his first and second trials.
Arrest and Indiction October 2000
On October 1, 2000 Camm was arrested by Indiana State Police and charged with three counts of murder.. The time of death was thought to be soon after 9:15pm - the probable cause listed 10 points of evidence, including a statement by a witness that between 9:15p.m. and 9:30p.m. she heard three distinct sounds that could be interpreted as gunshots.
On October 3, 2000 The Lexington Herald reported "A witness heard three gunshots near the home of former state trooper David Ray Camm minutes after Camm reportedly left a basketball game with his friends, according to a probable-cause affidavit".
Trials and Appeals
First Trial - January 14 to April 11, 2002
Camm's first trial began on January 14, 2002 in Floyd County with a jury brought in from Johnson County.
The medical examiner estimated the family was killed about 8 p.m., contrary to the probable cause.
The prosecution argued that eight tiny bloodstains on the shirt Camm was wearing on the night of the murder were blood spatter from the shot that killed Jill, while Camm's attorneys argued they were transferred onto his shirt when he checked his children after discovering their bodies.
Eleven witnesses testified that they were in the gym with Camm on the night of the murders from 7 to 9 p.m. Nine of ten basketball players testified they never saw Camm leave or return to the gym, in which all the doors except the front one are self-locking. The players said they would have noticed Camm’s absence if they hadn’t seen him every few minutes. Several players said they noticed Camm stretching on the sidelines and sitting in a chair talking to a spectator during the game he sat out.
The prosecution argued that Camm snuck out, drove 5-minutes to his home, shot his wife and children in the home’s garage when they returned from swim and dance practice, manipulated the crime scene, and drove back to the gym to play more basketball, establishing an alibi.
The prosecution claim in opening argument that Camm made a phone call from his house at 7:19 p.m., which would have refuted the alibi witnesses testimony that he was at the gym at that time, was found to be incorrect upon examination of a Verizon employee who testified that due to a software error concerning Indiana's unusual time zones, the call was placed instead at 6:19 p.m., when Camm said he was at home and before he left to play basketball.
The jury found Camm guilty on March 17, 2002 and he was sentenced to 195 years in prison on April 11, 2002.
First Appeal - August to November 2004
In August 2004, the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned the conviction. The court cited the trial judge's decision to allow testimony from a dozen women who claimed they had affairs with Camm or had been propositioned by him, which unfairly biased the jury because the prosecutor did not adequately connect those relationships with the murders.
In Novermber 2004 prosecutor Keith Henderson refiled charges against Camm.
Charles Boney - Arrest and Indiction
In February 2005, Charles Boney was identified as a suspect. Since around 2003, the state and Camm's defense had known that unidentified male DNA had been found on a sweatshirt left at the crime scene. In early 2005, it was at last run through a national database and there was a match - Charles Boney. Boney was a convicted felon - in 1989, he was convicted of three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery in Bloomington, Indiana. Then, in 1993, he was sentenced to 20 years for three counts of armed robbery and three counts criminal confinement. By then, Boney was using a gun to threaten his victims. He blamed it on being "young ... foolish and ignorant."
On February 25 2005, Boney spoke to WAVE 3 to try to explain how his sweatshirt came to be found at the scene of a triple murder. Boney admitted that it was his sweatshirt, but said he got rid of the sweatshirt shortly after his release from prison, three months before the murders. "Specifically, what I did with the prison clothes, I sent them to the little drop box at the Salvation Army." he said. Stan Faith said: "It gives the short-term appearance of significance, the long term is that it has no significance unless they tie him to that crime scene."
Boney's estranged wife, also talked with WAVE 3. She admitted Boney beat her, threatened her life, and even used a stun gun on her. But she stood by his side. "I know he's got an anger problem," she said. "But deep in my heart, I believe he's innocent -- I know he is innocent."
Just days later, Boney's story changed. Confronted with his palm print matched to one on Kim Camm's Ford Bronco, he claimed to investigators that he sold a gun to David Camm. Later he admitted to being at the Camm family home when the shootings happened.
On March 5, 2005, Boney was arrested and charged with the deaths of Kimberly, Jill, and Bradley Camm.
Lead-up to simultaneous trials
On March 9, 2005, the murder charges against Camm were dropped, but new charges were re-filed, and it was announced that Camm and Boney would be tried together. Both men were charged with three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
On May 28th, 2005, Camm won a ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court to have his retrial moved again to Warrick County, Indiana. The ruling left the door open for Boney's trial to remain in Floyd County. Both trials were scheduled to begin on January 9, 2006.
In September 2005 investigators searched a Floyd County subdivision lake to for the weapon used for several days. The lake is approximately 12 miles from the Camm Georgetown home. No weapon was found.
Boney's trial - January 10 to January 26, 2006
On January 10, in opening statements at Boney's trial Prosecutor Keith Henderson outlined a case that that Boney both sold an untraceable gun to David Camm for the shootings and was at the family’s Georgetown home when the shootings took place. Boney’s defense attorney, Patrick Renn, did not contradict Henderson’s assertions, but painted Boney as an unwilling dupe who had no idea of David Camm’s intent or what was about to happen.
On January 17, after spending most of previous week tying together what it said was a string of lies told by Charles Boney, prosecutors were expected to unveil what they said was Boney’s fourth version of his relationship with Camm and what happened at the scene of the murders.
On January 26, Boney was found guilty of the murders of the Camm family, and conspiracy to commit murder.
On February 23, Boney was sentenced to 225 years. In January 2008 his appeal was denied.
Camm's Second Trial - January 17 to March 29, 2006
On January 17, 2006 in opening arguments at Camm's second trial, Prosecutor Keith Henderson argued that Kim discovered her husband was molesting their daughter, and he killed his family to cover up the crime.
During the trial, Kim's friends testified that she was upset in the weeks before the murder and was planning to take her children on a trip to Florida. The defense countered that there is no evidence tying David to his daughter's injury, and that she was reported happy and not mentioning any pain in a dance class the day of the murder. The defense also argued that Kim did not tell anyone of unhappiness with her husband, and had just finished remodelling their bedroom prior to the murder.
On February 13th, after the state rested its case, Judge Robert Aylsworth issued a directed verdict, in effect, dismissing the conspiracy charge. However the day wasn't a total loss for the state, prosecutors believed they scored big with testimony from two doctors who said it was their professional opinion that Jill Camm was sexually molested sometime before she was murdered..
Lynn Scamahorn, a DNA analyst from the Indiana State Police testified that during the first trial former Floyd County Prosecutor Stan Faith threatened her when she wouldn't say she found Camm's DNA on Charles Boney's sweatshirt after conducting more than 300 tests. Prosecutor Steve Owen, now part of the team that replaced Faith in the last election, distanced himself from Faith's alleged comments. When asked what he thought Faith's alleged threats have to do with this trial, he replied: "I don't know. I know that I've never bullied her."
The trial again developed into a "battle of experts". For the prosecution, Robert Stites, Rod Englert, Tom Bevel and Indiana State Police Sgt. Dean Marks testified that the blood droplets on Camm's T-shirt was high velocity impact spatter and could only have been deposited with the defendant being within four feet of his daughter Jill when she was shot to death. For the defence, Paul Kish, Barton Epstein, Paulette Sutton and Stuart H. James suggested that the blood on the shirt could be transfer stains due to Camm coming into contact with his daughter's blood after she was deceased.
The jury found Camm guilty on March 3.
On March 7, at a press conference, jurors explained said it was particularly the testimony of Dr. Betty Spivak — a forensic pediatrician with the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office — that convinced them not only that Jill had been molested, but that her father was responsible.
On March 29, Camm was sentenced to life without parole.
After the sentence was read, prosecutor Keith Henderson said he was not worried about an appeal. After two juries convicted Camm and the county spent an unprecedented amount for him to receive the best defense — about $1 million for the two trials — he did not believe a higher court would even hear the case, much less overturn it.
David Camm spoke publicly for the first time in almost four years. “I am innocent. I did not murder my family. I did not molest my little girl. The reality is Charles Boney murdered my family because he is a perverted monster,” Camm said, breaking down in tears before the court.
Second Appeal - June to December 2009
In June 2009, the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the second conviction, citing prosecutor Keith Henderson's closing argument comment that Camm had molested his daughter Jill. The court ruled that this unfairly biased the jury because there was no evidence connecting the girl's genital injuries to her father.
On 30 November, 2009 the Attorney general's request for a rehearing of Camm's appeal was denied.
In December 2009, Prosecutor Keith Henderson refiled charges against Camm.
Lead-up to Third Trial - January 2010 to present day
2010
In June, Attorneys for Camm asked the Indiana Supreme Court to appoint a special judge after presiding Judge Robert Aylsworth in Warrick County Superior Court failed to rule on a motion to change venue within 30 days. Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said he has never seen an attorney ask for a judge to be removed from a case after only 32 or 33 days and remembers only a few times a judge has ever been removed under what is known as the “lazy judge rule.”
In July, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed Spencer Circuit Judge Jonathan A. Dartt as a special judge to handle Camm's third trial. Katharine Liell, who had represented Camm since shortly after his first conviction in 2002, withdrew as lead defense attorney because she had become busy with her family and legal practice. Indianapolis defense attorney Richard Kammen replaced her. The Indianapolis Star described Kammen as one of the state's most prominent death penalty case lawyers, and the Camm case as the most important of his career.
In February, the defense moved to have Keith Henderson, the prosecutor from the second trial, removed from the case because he had signed a deal, for which he was paid $4,000 in advance, to write a book about the shooting of Camm's family. Henderson signed the contract less than a month before Camm's second conviction was thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court.
2011
In November 2011, the Indiana Court of Appeals found that the trial court erred in denying Camm’s petition for a special prosecutor, and ruled that a special prosecutor should be appointed.
2012
In April 2012, Henderson was allowed to assist special prosecutor Stanley Levco, a former prosecutor from Vanderburgh County. After being assigned to the case, Stan Levco stated "From what I know, it's virtually inconceivable to me that I won't want to try it".
In October 2012, the trial was set for August 5, 2013 in Boone County. Charles Boney was expected to testify.
2013
On March 13, 2013 arguments were heard over how much testimony Charles Boney should be allowed to give. The defense urged Special Judge Jon Dartt to give them leeway during the trial to argue that Boney's criminal background suggests he carried out the murders by himself, without any help from Camm.
On April 19, 2013 both sides accused the other of delaying and withholding information on expert witnesses and other details about evidence, and conceded that a postponement of the trial was a possibility.
On May 8, 2013, Special Judge Jon Dartt agreed to allow defense lawyers to have additional DNA testing on the blood-stained T-shirt he wore the day his family was murdered. Special Prosecutor Stanley Levco had sent the shirt off for additional tests previously.
Cost of trials
In July 2007, the Courier Journal reported that costs had exceeded $1 million.
In March 2013, the Indianapolis Star reported that costs had reached $3.3 million.
Reaction
Thomas Schornhorst, a professor emeritus of the Indiana University School of Law, has said the case has been overturned repeatedly because the state's primary evidence, the bloodstains, is "pretty thin stuff" and that they have pushed the envelope with other evidence because they feared not getting a conviction on bloodstain evidence alone.
The case was the subject of a 2005 book entitled One Deadly Night by John Glatt. The case was also the subject of an episode of 48 Hours on CBS.
See also
External Links
References
- ^ Weiss, Jaimie (2013-01-23). "Latest evidence in third David Camm murder trial focused on Charles Boney". wave3.com.
- ^ Hershberg, Ben Zion (2010-09-27). "On both sides, the pain remains". Courier-Journal. pp. A4.
- ^ (John Glatt) One Deadly Night ISBN 978-0-312-99309-2
- "Police Charge Man in Deaths of Wife, Kids Ex-Indiana State Trooper Held in Triple Homicide". Lexington Herald. 2000-10-3.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Kozarovich, Lisa Hurt (2009-06-29). "State of Indiana vs. David Camm — a look at both sides". New Albany Tribune.
- ^ "David Camm v. State of Indiana - Opinion". Court of Appeals of Indiana. 2004-08-10.
- Hershberg, Ben Zion (2010-09-27). "Camm slayings: 10 years later: Prosecutor's book deal spurs effort to oust him from ex-Indiana trooper's third trial". Courier-Journal.
- ^ Harned,Carrie (2005-02-25). "Charles Boney's First Media Interview". wave3.com. Cite error: The named reference "boney1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- MacDonald,Janelle. "More Of Charles Boney's First Interview".
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Timeline Of Events In Camm Triple Murder Case". wave3.com.
- Staff Reports (2006-01-17). "Camm trial begins in Warrick County". News and Tribune.
- ^ "Opinion for publication" (PDF). Court of Appeals of Indiana. 2008-01-28.
- Schneider,Grace. "Camm trial begins in Warrick County". Courier-Journal.
- Zambroski,James (2006-02-13). "Good News/Bad News". wave3.com.
- Zambroski,James. "Witness Says Prosecutor In First Camm Trial Blew Up When She Couldn't Link Camm's DNA To Boney's Shirt". WAVE News.
- Zambroski,James (2006-02-34). "February 23rd, 2006 - Day 34: Strategic Error".
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Kozarovich,Lisa Hurt (2006-03-07). "Camm jury explains verdict". News and Tribune.
- ^ Hershberg, Ben Zion (2010-07-13). "Camm retrial gets new judge: Dartt's appointment". Courier-Journal. pp. B1.
- ^ "Camm and family speak out at sentencing". News and Tribune. 2006-03-29.
- Hershberg, Ben Zion (2009-06-26). "Camm's 2nd conviction overturned". Courier-Journal.
- "Indiana Supreme Court won't reconsider Camm case". Associated Press. 2009-11-30.
- Thacker,Matt (2009-12-03). "David Camm headed for a third trial". News and Tribune.
- Thacker,Matt (2010-06-08). "Supreme Court asked to appoint special judge in Camm case". News and Tribune.
- Hershberg, Ben Zion (2010-01-09). "Camm gets new primary lawyer: Liell withdraws". Courier-Journal. pp. B1.
- Sikich, Chris (2012-11-21). "The death-penalty trial of his life". pp. A1.
- Adams, Harold J. (2011-02-18). "David Camm's attorneys appeal ruling, seek prosecutor's removal". Courier-Journal.
- "David Camm v. State of Indiana" (PDF). Court of Appeals of Indiana. 2011-11-15.
- MacDonald,Janelle. "Camm special prosecutor: dropping the case, "virtually inconceivable"". wave3.com.
- Adams, Harold J. (2012-06-03). "Camm trial set for Aug. 2013". Courier-Journal.
- Schneider,Grace (2012-10-27). "David Camm's 3rd murder trial to be held in Boone County". Indianapolis Star.
- Schneider,Grace (2013-03-13). "David Camm lawyers, prosecutor argue over Charles Boney testimony in next murder trial". Indianapolis Star.
- Schneider,Grace (2013-04-19). "Lawyers accuse each other of delays". Courier-Journal.
- Schneider,Grace (2013-05-08). "David Camm T-shirt to get more blood splatter testing". Courier-Journal.
- Weidenbener, Lesley Stedman (2007-01-07). "Camm costs spark legislation". Courier-Journal. pp. A1.
- "Price of justice for David Camm: $3.3 million and rising". Indianapolis Star. 2013-01-03.
- * CBS 48 Hours: The Alibi: Disturbing The Peace