David Camm to seek $30M for wrongful conviction

Ever since he was released from prison last year, David Camm has said "Indiana owes me."

Now he’s going to court with a bill in hand — $30 million — for what he alleges was malicious prosecution following his arrest and imprisonment in the fatal shootings of his wife and two children in September 2000.

In a tort claim notice dated April 16 and hand-delivered to Floyd County officials late last week, lawyer Garry Adams of Louisville wrote that Camm will seek the damages for his wrongful convictions, the trauma he suffered while held in prison and his past and continuing loss of income and emotional well-being.

The notice is required by Indiana law before suing public officials and was sent to the Floyd County commissioners, Floyd County Council and the Indiana Political Subdivision Risk Management Commission.

It names former Prosecutor Stan Faith and four former employees who worked in office — Jacque Vaught, Tony Toran, Mark Henderson and Emily Fessel.

Also identified are current Floyd Prosecutor Keith Henderson, deputy Floyd prosecutor Steve Owen, former investigator Wayne Kessinger, and two men who were hired by Faith to work the crime scene and analyze forensic evidence — Robert Stites and Rod Englert.

A second tort claim notice will be sent to the Indiana State Police within the next two months identifying specific employees who may be targeted in a single lawsuit due by late October, a year after Camm’s acquittal in the fall of 2013, Adams said.

Camm, who was a state trooper but left the agency about four months before he reported finding his wife Kim, 35, and the couple’s children Brad, 7, and Jill, 5, fatally shot in the the family’s garage in Georgetown.

Camm insisted he was innocent, but prosecutors and police said evidence at the crime scene and on his clothing showed he was responsible. The case captured national attention as Camm was tried twice, only to have both convictions overturned.

Appellate judges ruled that Faith had unfairly prejudiced the jury by offering evidence of several extra-marital affairs. In the second reversal, judges found that the state’s assertions that Camm had molested his daughter before she died were also highly prejudicial and speculative.

Police linked Charles Boney of New Albany to the murders before the second Camm trial, and Boney is now serving a 225-year sentence.

Boney testified in Camm’s third trial in Boone County last year that he heard Camm shoot his family when he went to the Georgetown home to deliver a handgun Camm had arranged to buy. Defense lawers said Boney fabricated the story to hide his role.

During Camm’s third trial, which ended in an acquittal, Camm’s lawyers blamed a biased, inept, even corrupt, initial investigation for Camm’s arrest. In court last fall, Camm’s first defense lawyer Michael McDaniel alleged that Faith withheld information that linked a gray prison-issued sweatshirt found at the crime scene to Boney.

Faith has said McDaniel is lying and defended investigators for working to identify the sweat shirt’s owner. Contacted about the tort claim on Monday, Faith said he hasn’t seen the document and couldn’t comment.

The claim is based on federal Section 1983, which allows people to sue for violations of constitutional rights. Adams declined to detail the allegations, saying that the complaint "will really have the whole story."

Henderson, when asked for comment, said through an employee that he has forwarded the claim to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, which represents county prosecutors in such cases.

Original report here

　

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