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Saturday, August 16, 2008
Ind. Decisions - Still more on "Supreme Court hears arguments in Jeff Pelley case"
Updating this ILB entry from August 15, about the oral arguments Thursday in the case of Robert Jeffrey Pelley v.State, here is the first useful summary the ILB has seen, an AP story carried by the LCJ. Some quotes:
Pelley was not charged in the 1989 murders until 2002, and his trial did not begin until 2006. The delay was caused in part by a legal dispute over admission of Pelley's counseling records, which were a focus of arguments again Thursday.The Court of Appeals threw out Pelley's conviction, holding that the delay in bringing him to trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial. The attorney general's office then asked the Supreme Court to review the case.
Both sides argued Thursday that they had not been responsible for the delay. State attorney Ellen Meilaender further argued that the dispute's outcome had benefited Pelley, since the trial court had found the records were privileged.
But Pelley's attorney, Stacy Uliana, argued that Pelley should not be blamed for the delay because he was not directly involved in the dispute.
"It is a third party saying 'you are not entitled to these records' and Jeff did nothing to participate in that -- that was a fight between the state and a third party and he should not be held accountable for that," Uliana said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 16, 2008 09:09 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions