Indiana to pay $4.6M to former trooper found not guilty of killing wife, kids
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A former Indiana State Police trooper who was found not guilty of killing his family will receive $4.6 million from the Indiana government to settle a federal lawsuit.
David Camm, 58, was prosecuted three times on murder charges in the shooting deaths of his wife, Kim Camm, 35, and two children — Brad, 7, and Jill, 5 — on Sept. 28, 2000. They were found in their home’s garage in Georgetown, Indiana.
He was convicted twice, but those cases were overturned. A third jury found him not guilty of the murders in October 2013. Camm spent 13 years in prison before the third trial, but always maintained his innocence.
Camm sued Indiana government and the state police investigators, seeking $30 million in damages for some of his constitutional claims, including that officials suppressed evidence that a forensics investigator wasn’t qualified.
Camm’s attorneys have cited errors in the police investigation, and the tampering with evidence and witnesses.
The settlement agreement was crafted in January, entered into court in February and confirmed Wednesday by Camm’s attorneys.
One of Camm’s lawyers responded to News 8’s request for comment on the settlement:
“There is not enough money in the world to compensate David Camm for what he has been through.”
“However, when you get right up to trial and the opposition is offering millions of dollars to settle any case, you have to listen.”
“There is never any disappointment in resolving a case, especially a multi-million-dollar case.”
“A lot of people outside the legal field do not understand that under the rules of civil procedure we have come up with an amount that acts as a cap of what we can ask the jury for if we actually went to trial. That is what the $30 million was, a cap and nothing else.”
“There is no more civil litigation filed on behalf of David Camm against any Defendant that arose from his October 1, 2000 arrest, prosecution and/or 13 year confinement.”
Garry R. Adams, lawyer with Adams Landenwich Walton PLLC in Louisville, Ky.