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Sunday, September 30, 2007
Ind. Decisions - John Myers, convicted of killing IU student Jill Behrman, files appeal
Updating this ILB entry from Feb. 14, 2007, headed "Judge in Behrman case rejects bid for new trial", the Bedford Times-Mail reports today, in a story by Laura Lane:
[Defense attorney Patrick] Baker filed the appeal Sept. 21 after being granted three extensions of time. In June, Appeals Court Chief Judge John G. Baker granted the trial lawyer’s request to file an “oversized brief.” Appellate rules generally limit appeals briefs to 14,000 words, but the judge said Myers’ lawyer could submit up to 28,000 words.Baker agreed to continue representing Myers, without pay, during the appeals process.
The brief includes a statement of issues Baker addresses at length:
Should Burnham have granted a change of venue, given the blanket coverage of the case by local media? Baker wrote that the public was influenced “by the media hysteria, which memorialized Ms. Behrman, while demonizing and displaying Mr. Myers as an evil person.” He said the trial should have been moved “to a county as far away as possible from Morgan County.” He accused the media of engaging in “a clear pattern of prejudicial press coverage” that caused his client to be “the subject of vicious character assassination.”
Should the judge have not allowed damaging testimony from Myers’ former girlfriend and from his grandmother? The girlfriend said he took her to the spot where Behrman’s body was later found. The grandmother testified Myers told her he had done a very bad thing that could send him to jail for life.
Should a forensic pathologist’s opinion that Behrman was raped, even though there was no evidence available of sexual assault, have been admitted?
Should the jurors have been allowed to listen to an audiotape of police interrogating Myers?
Should the judge have excluded an FBI report that focused on other suspects in Behrman’s killing?
Was the separation-of-witness order violated?
Should the judge have granted a mistrial when a police officer referred to Myers’ refusal to take a lie detector test, and after another officer’s statement that Myers knew things about the crime that only the killer would know?
Does the jurors’ conduct, including the high-heels incident, nightly drinking at dinner and reports that they smuggled a TV and cell phone into their hotel, warrant a mistrial? “Is this the type of conduct expected from grown adults involved in such an important case, deciding a man’s liberty?” Baker asked.
Was there enough evidence presented to support a guilty verdict?
Do the alleged errors combined, even if each is not substantial enough on its own, meet the legal standard of cumulative error, justifying overturning the verdict?
The Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office has 30 days to respond. Then, members of the Indiana Court of Appeals will consider the case and issue a ruling.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 30, 2007 12:14 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions