Camm defense team claims murders may have been sex crime - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

SPENCER COUNTY, IN (WAVE) - New DNA testing and more background on Charles Boney: Those were the two big requests made by the defense Monday during a hearing for David Camm, the former Indiana State Police trooper who will be tried a third time for the murders of his wife and two young children.

Camm's attorneys argued during a court hearing Monday until late in the afternoon. They want to be able to delve more into co-conspirator Boney's violent history during Camm's upcoming trial, and they want the state to give them swabs from Kim Camm's body so they can test for DNA, suggesting the 2000 murders may have been a sex crime.

The defense argued that Boney, who also was convicted in the murders, was solely responsible. The defense team told special Judge John Dartt they should be able to go into Boney's violent criminal background at trial. "The serial assaulter of women, that is Charles Boney, " said Camm attorney Richard Kammen. "They want to hide all that and present a very sanitized version of him."

Camm's defense team also asked that prosecutors choose one person to go after, claiming they're relying on multiple scenarios: Camm acting alone and Camm conspiring with Boney.

"If (the prosecutors) believe David committed the murders, that's fine. Then that's what the trial should be about -- not trying to guess a guy into a conviction," Kammen said.

"It's unfair and it's untrue," Special Prosecutor Stan Levco fired back. "It's always been the law in Indiana that if you're charged as a principal you can be convicted either as a principal or an accessory. That's always been the case."

Levco said it's simple. If the jury believes that the defendant either committed the crimes himself or helped commit the crimes, then he's guilty.

The defense also wants the state to turn over swabs from Kim Camm's body so they can test them for DNA. They contend condoms found in the Camms' septic tank were lost by the state and they suggest maybe the murders were a sex crime. When asked if they could even find that evidence if it exists so many years, later Kammen replied, " If they don't," he said, " that wouldn't be terribly surprising, but if they do, it would be significant."

The Judge took the arguments under advisement and should have an opinion by the next hearing in April. Camm's trial is set for August. Camm's first two convictions were overturned.

Copyright 2013 WAVE News. All rights reserved.