« Ind. Courts - Another case lost for months in the Clerk's Office | Main | Ind. Courts - More on: "Suit filed over RCA Dome auction" »
Friday, March 21, 2008
Ind. Decisions - "Jill Behrman murder trial unfair, lawyer tells appeals court"
Oral arguments were heard yesterday, March 20th, before a panel of the Court of Appeals in the case of John R. Myers, II vs. State of Indiana. Myers is the man convicted of killing IU student Jill Behrman, whose "body was found in 2003, nearly three years after she disappeared while riding her bicycle in Bloomington," per this March 2, 2006 AP report.
Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star reports today on yesterday's arguments. His story begins:
Pretrial publicity about the disappearance and killing of Indiana University student Jill Behrman made a fair trial impossible for the man later convicted of the crime, his attorney told an appeals panel Thursday.Watch the entire hour-long review hereThe conviction of John R. Myers II also rests on prosecution missteps that his attorney said should have led to mistrial rulings; a wrongly excluded FBI report; and after-hours antics by the jury. Myers argued those contentions should persuade a three-judge Indiana Court of Appeals panel to overturn his 2006 conviction and 65-year prison sentence.
Advertisement"We believe this was an unfair procedure from the get-go," attorney Patrick V. Baker said. "The entire (jury) pool, we believe, was tainted."
A deputy Indiana attorney general disagreed, arguing that Baker was exaggerating the effects of trial mistakes and misbehavior by the jury -- including after-hours drinking -- while it was holed up in a hotel for more than two weeks. * * *
During an hour of argument in the Indiana Supreme Court's courtroom, Judges Carr L. Darden, Michael P. Barnes and Cale J. Bradford peppered each side with pointed questions. They will issue a decision later.
[More] Deanna Martin has this report in the Louisville Courier Journal.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 21, 2008 06:55 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions