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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Ind. Decisions - "Who will pay for Camm’s new prosecutor? Cost of trials so far have exceeded $3 million"

For background start with this Nov. 17th ILB entry, headed "Keith Henderson can't prosecute third David Camm murder trial, appeals court rules."

In a story dated Nov. 23rd, Matt Thacker of the New Albany News & Tribune reports:

NEW ALBANY — How much more will it cost?

That was the question many people asked when the Indiana Court of Appeals removed Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson from the David Camm case last week.

Floyd County Council President Ted Heavrin, also the county’s police chief, said the total cost of two trials and appeals for David Camm and one trial and appeals for co-defendant Charles Boney has now exceeded $3 million. Attorneys on both sides of the case have said this trial will cost at least another $1 million, and that was before the most recent court rulings.

Camm is facing a third trial for the murders of his wife, Kimberly, 35, and two children, Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, in September 2000 at their home in Georgetown.

The Court of Appeals ruled that a special prosecutor should be appointed due to an “actual conflict of interest,” after Henderson signed a book deal to write about the case. Henderson canceled the deal once Camm’s second conviction was overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court, but said he still wanted to write the book after the case is finished.

The story goes on to detail how special prosecutors are paid, and then looks at "logistics costs":
The trial will be held before Spencer County Judge Jonathan Dartt. Jurors will be brought in from another part of the state and will be sequestered during trial. Camm’s first trial lasted for nine weeks, while the second went on for six weeks.

“It’s going to cost extra money to bring them in, house them and the whole nine yards,” Heavrin said. “If you have to sequester them, you have to feed them, pull security, buy them food.”

Joel Schumm, clinical professor of law at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, said he cannot imagine the third trial will be any cheaper than the previous ones.

“The cost for the first two trials was very high — higher than even death penalty cases,” Schumm said. * * *

One concern raised was that a special prosecutor using another county’s funds could run up the costs, but Schumm said that is not likely. He pointed out that Henderson called “five purported experts” on “bloodstain analysis” during the second trial. The defense then called four experts on the same topic.

“More than one expert from each side on a specific topic seems unusual to me,” Schumm said.

Schumm said none of this would be necessary if Henderson had not speculated that Camm molested his daughter after the Indiana Court of Appeals warned against such testimony. Henderson has not commented since the court’s most recent decision.

The county council set aside $1 million for a third Camm trial after the county received a $2 million reimbursement from the state’s takeover of child welfare services. Heavrin expects the total costs will exceed even that amount.

“We’ll just have to get it from [Economic Development Income Tax] or rainy-day [funds],” Heavrin said. “We’re keeping our heads above water.”

He said the trial will not put the county in the financial trouble seen in Clark County. However, he said the money could have been used on other projects. That does not diminish the resolve to go forward with the case.

“This trial’s important because of the people that got murdered,” Heavrin said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 24, 2011 09:52 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions