Lawyers for David Camm's

Lawyers for former Indiana State Trooper David Camm filed a 21,000-word appeal yesterday with the Indiana Supreme Court, arguing that his conviction last year for the murders of his wife and two children seven years ago was the result of a drastically imbalanced playing field created by numerous errors by the trial judge.

"It's never a fair trial if the jury can't hear both sides of the story," Katharine Liell, one of Camm's lawyers, said yesterday in explaining the appeal.

The office of Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson declined to comment on the filing because he hadn't seen it yet. He said previously that he believes that the trial was conducted properly and that the verdict will be upheld.

The Indiana attorney general's office also declined comment but said it would keep working to uphold Camm's conviction and sentence.

In his second trial in the case, Camm was found guilty on March 3, 2006, of fatally shooting his wife, Kimberly, and their two children in the garage of their Georgetown home on Sept. 28, 2000. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Because of intense publicity about the killings, the trial was moved to Warrick County, with Superior Court Judge Robert Aylsworth presiding.

Yesterday was the deadline that the Supreme Court had set for filing the appeal. The state attorney general's office has at least 30 days to respond and could seek an extension. The defense will then have another 15 days to answer the attorney general's response.

Liell said she believes that arguments before the Supreme Court are likely to be held in the spring and that the court could make a decision later next year.

If the verdict is overturned, Camm could be released immediately if the Supreme Court finds there isn't enough evidence to support a conviction, Liell said, or it could order a third trial.

The 73-page appeal filed yesterday was supported by a friend-of-the-court brief submitted by Thomas Schornhorst, a law professor emeritus at Indiana University.

Schornhorst argued that Henderson should not have been allowed to claim in closing arguments that Camm killed his family to cover up his molestation of his 5-year-old daughter, Jill. Schornhorst said there was no strong evidence linking Camm to the alleged abuse.

Schornhorst also contended that autopsy evidence of injuries to Jill's genital area should not have been presented to the jury without strong evidence that Camm caused the injuries because, without such evidence, there was nothing linking the injuries to the murders -- and there wasn't enough evidence for the prosecutor to charge Camm with molestation.

Henderson has argued that testimony by pediatricians with expertise in diagnosing sexual abuse supported his argument that Jill had been molested. And he said evidence from other witnesses that no one but Camm had enough access to Jill within the 24 hours before her death to molest her supported his argument that Camm's motive was to cover up the molestation.

Other issues raised in the appeal:

Henderson abused his power as a prosecutor by charging Camm with conspiring with a co-defendant, Charles Boney, when Henderson knew there was no evidence to support a conspiracy.

The conspiracy charge was thrown out by Aylsworth during the trial for lack of evidence. But Liell said making the charge allowed Henderson to explain Boney's presence at the murder scene -- proven by Boney's palm print and sweatshirt -- by saying that Boney admitted bringing a gun to Camm.

Boney wasn't required to testify at Camm's trial so he wouldn't incriminate himself, but Henderson could have given Boney immunity. Liell said that would have let the defense cross-examine Boney, who was convicted in a separate trial last year.

The defense wasn't allowed to present key evidence to bolster its argument that Boney, and not Camm, committed the murders.

The evidence that Aylsworth didn't allow included Boney's previous criminal history, including attacks on women; a statement he allegedly made to a friend about having "three bodies on his conscience;" and a failed polygraph test that showed Boney was "99 percent deceptive" when he denied shooting Camm's family.

The appeal also said that bloodstains -- the prosecution's primary physical evidence connecting Camm to the murders -- should not have been presented to the jury because the methods used by the four bloodstain experts for the prosecution weren't proved to be reliable.

Eight small bloodstains on the T-shirt Camm wore the night of the murders were interpreted by prosecution experts as proof that Camm was within 4 feet of Jill when she was shot.

Defense experts said the stains were made when Camm came in contact with Jill's blood after she was dead.

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