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Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ind. Decisions - More on the Behrman case verdict

Updating this ILB entry from Oct. 30th, the Indianapolis Star today has a story by Tim Evans headlined "Building a case, clue by clue: Dogged detective found evidence against Behrman's killer." It begins:

Despite nearly five years of police work and more than 600 bits of evidence and information collected on hundreds of people, investigators still had no solid suspect in Jill Behrman's killing.

Until Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang tracked down a young woman whose story gave him goose bumps.

Carly Goodman described tactics her former boyfriend, John R. Myers II, used to control her, and of a time he drove her to a remote spot in the woods in 2000. It was the same spot where Behrman's remains were found three years later.

"When she told me about those things," Lang said, "it literally made the hairs on the back of my neck stick up."

On Oct. 31st the Chicago Tribune ran a story by AP reporter Deanna Martin headed "Quick verdict might not end Behrman case". Some quotes:
A jury deciding a murder case so quickly is unusual, said Craig Bradley, the James L. Calamaras Professor of Law at Indiana University.

"I never tried a case when the jury came back (that fast)," Bradley said. "To do it in a murder case where the evidence is this thin is almost bizarre."

Five jurors told reporters that all panelists chose to convict Myers during their first round of voting. One female juror, who declined to give her name, said she was not convinced of Myers' guilt until closing arguments.

"I felt like the state really met the burden of proof," she said.

Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega said newer court rules allow jurors to talk about the case -- without deliberating -- as the trial moves along. Jurors can also now ask questions during the trial.

"When they go to deliberate, they don't start at square one," Sonnega said.

Bradley said the quick verdict could be groundwork for an appeal, in which defense attorneys could argue that a reasonable juror would not find that the state met its burden of proof against Myers.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 5, 2006 04:36 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions