Published: March 02, 2006 03:20 pm            

Desperate Hours

Families, jurors in Camm trial feeling deliberation pressure

BOONVILLE — The jurors who will decide David Camm’s fate loaded onto a small school bus and pulled away from a Warrick County courthouse Wednesday night with 22 hours of deliberations under their belt, giving no indication of when a verdict might come.

The jury met from 9 a.m. until about 8:30 p.m., stepping outside occasionally for a smoke break. Often, family members involved in the case, reporters and courtroom observers were nearby, passing the time reading or talking.

“They’re feeling a lot of pressure from the media,” a bailiff said Wednesday evening as she asked reporters to move out of the line of sight of jury members.

Other than that, there’s been no word from the jury room. As of late Wednesday, the jury had not sent any questions to the judge.

Camm, a 41-year-old former Indiana State Police trooper, is on trial for the Sept. 28, 2000, murders of his wife and children in Georgetown. Kim Renn Camm and her children, Brad, 7, and Jill, 5, were fatally shot at their home. David Camm was charged with their murders three days later, and convicted in 2002. Two years after that, a state appellate court reversed that decision, ruling he had not received a fair trial.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson refiled the charges against Camm in November 2004. Three months later, DNA on a sweatshirt found at the murder scene was matched to convicted felon Charles Boney. Boney told police he sold Camm a gun and was at the home when the family was murdered; Camm said he’d never heard of Boney.

Henderson charged both men with the murders and conspiracy. A Floyd County jury convicted Boney on all charges in a separate trial last month. He was sentenced to 225 years in prison.

As Wednesday afternoon turned into evening, lead defense attorney Katharine “Kitty” Liell said her team wasn’t concerned about the length of the deliberations. Instead, she said, she’s encouraged by the fact that the jury is taking its time evaluating the evidence.

Henderson agreed, saying “We have a very smart, thoughtful jury that’s going to examine this evidence carefully. They’re very conscientious.”

It took jurors in Camm’s first trial about three days to reach a verdict.

The attorneys met privately with Judge Robert Aylsworth Wednesday to discuss a number of issues, including how the sentencing phase of the trial will be conducted and increased security for those connected with the case when the verdict is read.

Threats against Camm and his family have been fairly commonplace since his arrest, and have resurfaced during the new trial. Earlier this week, someone spray painted “Fry Camm” on one TV station’s satellite truck, and on Wednesday afternoon shouts of “he’s guilty, he’s guilty” could be heard coming from a passing truck.

“Just read the blogs ... some of (the comments) are very scary. There are some hate-filled people out there,” Donnie Camm, David’s brother said, during an impromptu press conference Wednesday. “We’re preparing on our end, and the safety issue has been addressed by the court.”

The lengthy trial, and now the wait, has also been hard on the Renn family, including Kim’s parents and her sister Debbie Karem, who suffers from multiple sclerosis.

“She’s not doing real good today. She’s got a lot of fatigue,” Debbie’s husband Greg said Wednesday. “She’s always so optimistic — they’ve got that German resolve, they’re very strong people — that when I think she may be losing hope, I don’t know what to do.”

Throughout the day, about a dozen of Camm’s family members waited at the courthouse for a verdict, while the Renn family remained at a nearby hotel.

The jury was expected to continue deliberations beginning at 9:30 a.m. today.

Reporter’s Notebook

When we first arrived in Boonville, I walked around the town square asking local merchants and their customers what kind of impact they expected the trial to have on the small community.

“What trial?” was the typical response.

What a difference a few weeks make.

“They got a verdict!” yelled an employee at the pizza parlor across from the courthouse. It was his idea of playing a joke on the dozens of reporters who have been filling the tiny pizza house — the only nearby and open restaurant — during deliberations. (By the way, Una’s, as it’s called, also has tremendous pizza, created decades ago by a local man who owns the place.)

Nearly eight weeks into the trial, many reporters are on a first-name basis with local merchants, who ask each time we see them, “Is there a verdict yet?”

•••

I’ve covered numerous trials over the years and the only time I can remember feeling nervous that violence could break out was during the emotionally charged murder trial of a teenage gang member 10 years ago.

Until now.

The families involved in this case have had commendable restraint during the trial, and while I expect heart-wrenching emotion and harsh words when the verdict is read, I don’t worry those connected to the case will act out.

I do worry that one of the folks who has unimaginable hate for David Camm and his family might choose violence.

I’m told the courthouse is preparing and that extra security will be on hand. Hopefully, it’ll be an unnecessary precaution.

•••

Here’s to this incredible spring weather continuing, we’re really gonna need it if the deliberations continue much longer.

Members of the media were shocked to be, literally, “kicked to the curb” of the courthouse suddenly Tuesday afternoon. We were told that would be standard operating procedure until the jury reaches a verdict.

Apparently, there’s a manpower shortage, so the sheriff instructed courthouse staff to put us out by 4 p.m., when the court closes. Since there are still deputies on duty at the courthouse until jurors leave for the evening, no one’s really clear on why we have to leave the building.

Normally, the media is allowed to stay in a courthouse during deliberations.

While we’re thrilled to sill have wireless Internet access on the courthouse steps, not having a restroom can become pretty uncomfortable for the media group that has more than tripled in the past two days.

A town with about 6,500 residents, after all, doesn’t have much of a downtown life after dark, so there are few public restrooms to come by.

Fortunately, the Elks Club down the street has taken pity on us and their members not only let us traipse in and out of their bathroom, but they offer us food at every turn.



Camm waiting for acquittal

If David Camm gets out of jail after 5 1/2 years don’t expect him to hold a big press conference.

Besides having more important things to do, Camm feels his family has been exploited by the media and has little interest in talking to the press, lead defense attorney Katharine “Kitty” Liell said Wednesday.

“We just want to take him home. He has a lot of things to catch up on,” his older brother Donnie Camm later added.

First on the list, if acquitted, is for Camm to visit his bedridden mother and the graves of his wife and children, according to his brother.

He’s also expressed interest in doing work for Project Innocence, a nonprofit group that works on the behalf of people who have been wrongly convicted.

What he most likely won’t do, the family agrees, is make his home in Floyd County.

        

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