ANDERSON, Ind. —
Just because he walked free from the walls of prison Thursday does not mean that Walter Goudy is free from the same murder charges that led to his 15-year incarceration.
Appointed special prosecutor Barry Brown, of Bloomington, used language in the release motion that leaves both options of retrial open. But, even if Brown should decide against refiling charges, the former Madison County prosecutor who initially filed the case in 1995 swore Thursday that he would.
“I have to make the same pledge as I did the last time the case was dismissed (in 1994): if I’m elected, I’ll refile the case,” said Rodney Cummings, who is running against incumbent Thomas Broderick Jr. in November.
Goudy was convicted in 1995 of gunning down Marvin McCloud outside of the former Oasis Tavern, and sentenced to 110 years in prison.
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chicago, reversed the conviction in May.
“... we conclude that the Court of Appeals of Indiana unreasonably applied federal law when it determined that prior statements of identification by witnesses the government suppressed did not create a reasonable probability of a different result in Goudy’s trial,” said the court in a 15-page ruling.
The court ordered the Madison County court to either retry Goudy in 120 days or to release him, but that doesn’t mean that no retrial in 120 days equals no retrial ever.
“They’re saying you can retry him again, as long as you don’t make the same mistakes,” said Robert Weisberg, a law professor at the Stanford Criminal Justice Center in California. “They’re just saying, ‘you can’t hold him in jail while you fiddle-faddle around making a decision.”
Cummings is close to the Goudy case. He was the lead detective at the Anderson Police Department who investigated the shooting. After the prosecutor at the time, William Lawler, decided not to file murder charges against Goudy, Cummings filed the charges when he took office.
He said he didn’t excuse his office from the case because “I was too scared no one would try it because it was such a tough case.”
Brown, the special prosecutor who received the case Aug. 27, did not return repeated phone calls Wednesday and Thursday.
But, in a motion to release Goudy filed on Wednesday, Brown left his options open on whether to refile charges against Goudy.
He argued that the state’s window to retry Goudy in 120 days had expired on Aug. 31, and Goudy “should be released pending the initiation of the trial process, if any.”
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
State News
Murder trial still looms
Law professor: Appellate court ordered release within 120 days, not trial
- State News
-
-
State takeover of failing schools meets resistance
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism, and questions about its costs.
-
Howard County hospital acquisition clears another hurdle
The planned acquisition of Howard County Regional Health System by the Indianapolis-based Community Health Network cleared another hurdle Tuesday, when the Indiana Finance Authority OK’d the transfer of the Howard County hospital’s debt obligations to Community Health.
-
Mall-based schools offer second chance for at-risk students
Jayne Carter spends her mornings at a shopping mall earning her high school degree. It may sound like a teenager’s dream, but for Carter, 18, and her classmates, it’s a second chance.
-
Maureen Hayden: Why did 3 million Hoosiers choose not to vote?
If you voted in last Tuesday’s primary, raise your hand. Congratulations. You’re part of the small minority of Hoosiers who exercised a right that citizens around the world covet deeply and for which many still risk their lives. For those of you with your hands down, here’s a question: Where were you?
-
Early intervention efforts try to prevent future dropouts
West Goshen Elementary has become a national model for a teaching-excellence program funded by public and private sources, the Teacher Advancement Program, or TAP.
-
Making lemonade out of Lemons
Press Pass
-
Lugar, Mourdock in final push for voters
Inside his campaign headquarters in Indianapolis, there’s a photo of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar shaking hands with former U.S. Secretary Condoleeza Rice, one of the many Republican Party heavyweights who’ve endorsed his re-election.
-
Maureen Hayden: Lugar running his toughest race Tuesday
You may think 80 is old, but U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, who hit that mile marker in April, has this message for people who think he needs to retire: I can still run.
-
Early voting, including absentee ballots, declines from 2008
Indiana’s hotly contested Republican Senate primary race has generated more than $12 million in campaign spending, including a record-topping $4 million in outside dollars.
-
Making Medora movie
Press Pass
- More State News Headlines
-
State takeover of failing schools meets resistance
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
