WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays READERS POLL question is: Should Council delay spending money on new Zoo exhibits and put money towards Employee Health Care Costs?

Please take time and read our newest feature articles entitled “BIRTHDAYS, HOT JOBS” and “LOCAL SPORTS” posted in our sections.

If you would like to advertise in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.

City-County Observer has been serving our community for 15 years.

Copyright 2015 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Deductibles in the proposed budget for 2017 are set to increase by about 60 percent.

One firefighter says his employer contributions right now are 13 percent, in the new budget it would jump up to around 20 percent.

Dozens of firefighters and police officers echoed the same sentiment, that they simply can not afford the new health care changed proposed.

Many council members agree, including Missy Mosby who said police and firefighters have opted to have little to no pay raise in the past to keep their deductibles the same.

The company made changes to its proposal, moving the location of some buildings, so the board cannot hear the new plan until the next meeting.

The egg laying farm is looking to expand its operation north of Boonville, along Indiana 61 and Kelley road.

Prime Foods already has a location on Indiana 62, but there are no birds there.

The chief operating officer says 95% of the customers they serve live within 200 miles of town, but the birds are in northwest Ohio.

The company wants to minimize freight costs and house the birds locally.

Company representatives say the facility will not pose a health risk to the public, but residents have concerns.

Residents say the facility should go somewhere else, instead of moving into a residential are, some say their only option may be to leave their dream home.

The zoning board is expected to take up the issue on October 24th at 6pm.

Nearly $160 million of that amount will go to the general fund.

$32 million is approved for capital projects, such as construction and improvements.

They have also approved money to replace school buses, between 2017 and 2028.

The EVSC Foundation also presented a check for $1,000 to music programs and announced more than $22,000 has been raised from scoop night and hangars.

7th Circuit Court Orders Issuance Of Writ Of Habeas Corpus For Convicted Murderer

Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

The full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered that writ of habeas corpus or a new trial be ordered for a man convicted of three murders and sentenced to death, finding that state courts incorrectly omitted a key piece of evidence in the defense’s case.

In the case of Wayne Kubsch v. Ron Neal, 14-1898, Wayne Kubsch was convicted in the 1998 murders of his wife, Beth Kubsch, Rick Milewski and Aaron Milewski, Rick Milweski and Beth Kubsch’s son, in Mishawaka. Kubsch was sentenced to death as a result of his convictions.

While the 7th Circuit Court wrote in its Friday opinion that the jury in the case had correctly relied on circumstantial evidence to convict Kubsch of the murders, the court also wrote that one piece of evidence that was omitted could have been used to prove Kubsch’s innocence. The evidence was a videotaped testimony of Amanda Buck, a 9-year-old girl who said in the video that she saw Aaron Milewski at 3:30 p.m. on the day of the murders, which would have undermined the state’s theory that the murders were committed between 1:53 p.m. and 2:51 p.m.

Buck was called to testify at a second trial in the case in 2005, but she claimed to have no memory of the videotaped interview with police. Kubsch’s lawyer attempted to use the transcript of the interview to refresh Buck’s memory and later to impeach her, but the prosecution objected, and the court sustained the objections. The court also refused to permit the use of Buck’s interview as a recorded recollection.

After direct appeals and post-conviction proceedings in state courts, Kubsch filed for habeas corpus relief in federal court. The district court and a panel of 7th Circuit judges found that the state court decisions passed muster, but that opinion was vacated when the full 7th Circuit Court decided to hear the case en banc.

In its opinion handed down on Friday, the 7th Circuit Court wrote that the heart of Kubsch’s case went to whether the state had violated his rights to due process under the 14th Amendment by rendering a decision contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case ofChambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284 (1973).

In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, “Few rights are more fundamental than that of an accused to present witnesses in his own defense. … Although perhaps no rule of evidence has been more respected or more frequently applied in jury trials than that applicable to the exclusion of hearsay, exceptions tailored to allow the introduction of evidence which in fact is likely to be trustworthy have long existed.”

In applying Chambers to Kubsch’s case, the 7th Circuit Court wrote that the excluded recording of Buck’s testimony was the strongest evidence in Kubsch’s defense based on actual innocence and, asChambers requires, was unusually reliable.

If a jury had been allowed to hear Buck’s testimony or that of her mother, the circuit court wrote that they could have reasonably acquitted or convicted Kubsch.

“All we are saying is that the jury should have been given the chance to evaluate the case based on all the evidence, rather than on the basis of a truncated record that omitted the strongest evidence the defense had,” the court wrote. “The facts of Kubsch’s case parallel so closely the facts of Chambers … that a failure to apply those cases here would amount to an unreasonable application of law clearly established by the Supreme Court.”

The 7th Circuit Court reversed the district court’s judgment and remanded the case for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, unless the state takes steps to give Kubsch a new trial within 120 days.

However, Judges David Hamilton, Frank Easterbrook and Diane Sykes dissented, writing in a separate opinion that the en banc majority had “crafted a new rule so narrow and case-specific as to be good apparently only for this case.”

“The residual risk or error in capital cases is deeply sobering for all of us with roles in the criminal justice system,” Hamilton wrote. “That risk offers a powerful policy argument against the death penalty. It does not provide a reason to disregard rules of evidence that apply to both sides and have been designed to ensure fair and reliable evaluation of evidence.”

St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter told the Associated Press on Monday that he will consult with the victims’ families and review case files before determining how to proceed.

Defense attorney Alan Freedman said Kubsch is relieved by the ruling and is awaiting the prosecutor’s decision.