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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Ind. Courts - "Camm lawyer asks for new judge" [Updated]

Updating this long list of earlier ILB entries re the David Camm murder trials, the most recent being May 6th, Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier Journal reports today:

A lawyer for David Camm has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to appoint a new judge to handle the case, possibly including a third murder trail.

The motion, filed Tuesday morning, says Warrick County Superior Court Judge Robert Aylsworth has taken more than the 30 days allowed by state rules to decide how to handle Camm's request for a change of location for a new trial because of intense publicity about the case.

Stacy Uliana, who filed the motion for Camm, declined to comment on it, and Keith Henderson, the Floyd County prosecutor who has said Camm will be tried a third time, hadn't received the motion yet and wouldn't comment.

Camm's lawyers also have asked for a new prosecutor in the case, citing a book contract Henderson has acknowledged negotiating about the case before Camm's second conviction was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court last year. Henderson has said the contract was negotiated with the understanding that, if the conviction were overturned the contract wouldn't be completed. * * *

If a new judge were appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court, he or she would handle the change of venue, change of prosecutor and other issues that arise in the case, Uliana said. The special judge also could end up handling a third trial, depending on the change of venue ruling.

From a story on WAVE 3:
Camm's lawyers filed paperwork early Tuesday to have Judge Robert Aylsworth removed from the case.

The defense filed what's called a "verified praecipe." It states Judge Robert Aylsworth has failed to rule within 30 days on the pending motion for a change of venue to move the case out of Warrick County. As of Tuesday, 33 days had passed.

The Warrick County clerk has sent notice to the Indiana Supreme Court that the case has been withdrawn from Judge Aylsworth.

[Updated at 4:18 PM] Matt Thacker of the New Albany News & Tribune has now posted this story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 8, 2010 01:12 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts