Rotary Club Hosts Prosecutor’s Forum
(Hermann Skips Rotary Event to Attend Drug Symposium In Indianapolis)Â
OCTOBER 30TH, 2018 
JOYLYN BUKOVAC EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
The Rotary Club of Evansville hosted a discussion for Stan Levco and Gary Schutte, who was representing Nick Hermann while he attended a drug symposium.
“I think to be an effective leader, you have to put your staff at a position to where they have the greatest capacity to have the greatest impact on their community, and I think Nick is taking steps to try and do that,†says Gary Schutte, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Vanderburgh County.
Levco says he’s worried about the office’s 45 percent conviction rate and the outcome of the Beckerle case in addition to a few others.
“He blamed his not guilty verdict on the bad publicity the jurors had read. Well, the reason you have jury selection is you can tell what kind of publicity the jurors have had and he didn’t ask a single question to the second panel of jurors, and that’s just beyond belief,†says Levco.
However, Schutte says there are more cases they have faced than that specific one.
“I understand the criticism of the Roach case, I do. It wasn’t the result we intended, but I think it needs to be taken into perspective in compared to all of the other cases. The last five murder trials our office has tried have resulted in guilty verdicts,†says Schutte.
Schutte says the most significant challenge their office is facing is overcrowding of the Vanderburgh County Jail. Levco says, if he’s elected he will do more work releases.  However, Schutte believes there are more effective alternatives.
“Free time is a dangerous thing for people with addiction problems. So one of our reasons for that is there’s technology available that allows you to track in the eyes of the prosecutor’s office in a better, more effective way.â€
