Published: February 11, 2006 07:03 pm            

Boney plans to appeal murder conviction

Charles Darnell Boney’s lawyer was adamant appeals would be filed after a jury returned guilty verdicts on Jan. 25 for conspiracy and the triple murder of Kimberly Renn Camm and her two children, Bradley and Jill in 2000.

But evidence just released to the press supports prosecutors’ confidence they had a clean case that could withstand scrutiny by a higher court.

Boney was found guilty of both conspiring with David R. Camm and aiding him in the Sept. 28, 2000 murders of Camm’s wife, Kimberly, and the couple’s two children, Bradley and Jill.

Camm is currently on trial a second time for the same charges in Warrick County.

Documents released for the first time Wednesday show Boney volunteered to speak to investigators without a lawyer present and to take a polygraph test. Results of both were part of the incriminating evidence presented to the jurors to prove Boney’s guilt.

“I am willing to make a statement and answer questions. I do not want a lawyer at this time,” Boney said when waiving his right to have a lawyer. “I understand and know what I am doing. No promises or threats have been made to me and no pressure or coercion of any kind has been used against me.”

Boney made the statement on a standard form called an “Advice of Rights” used during interrogations. Before signing it, Boney was informed he could remain silent, anything he said would be used in court and that he could consult with a lawyer, or have one present, even if he couldn’t afford it.

Pat Renn, Boney’s defense counsel, said Boney’s appeal would likely be prepared by the State’s Public Defender’s Office and include three major issues:

• Statements Boney made both before and after asking to see a lawyer

• Results of two failed polygraph tests Boney agreed to take

• Incriminating excerpts from an autobiography Boney was working on

Renn unsuccessfully argued before Floyd Circuit Court Judge Terrence Cody that all Boney’s statements or documents were obtained illegally either by ignoring Boney’s right to counsel, by coercion, or by invading his right to privacy. Cody denied all three requests, excluding only about 10 minutes of an interview that continued after Boney asked to see a lawyer.

But Boney called investigators back after that request, saying he did want to make a statement. And before continuing, he signed another advice and waiver of rights form.

“I further acknowledge that I have initiated this interview and that I have requested to make a statement (emphasis in original),” Boney wrote. “I hereby waive my rights and state that I do not want a lawyer at this time and that I am willing to make a statement and answer questions. This waiver of my rights has been knowingly and voluntarily made by me without any promises or threats have been made to me and further without any pressure or coercion having been used against me.”

Boney’s statements went from not even knowing David Camm to supplying him with a gun and being present at the home the night of the killings.

Two failed polygraph tests found Boney being “deceptive” about his knowledge, presence and involvement in the murders. And before they were given, Boney signed a similar waiver of his rights plus a court stipulation that test results could be used in any trial, hearing or proceeding.

Prosecutors brushed off the defense’s challenge to seizing the draft of Boney’s autobiography, in which he also admitted providing Camm with a gun like that used in the murders and being there when the shootings took place.

“Charles Boney is an inmate in the county jail and has a very limited expectation of privacy,” Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said. “I think it was a clean case. I see nothing to cause me any concern.”

Boney is set to be sentenced on Feb. 23 from a range of 75 to 275 years in prison. After sentencing he will be remanded to the state’s Department of Corrections. It could be six months or longer before an appeal is filed.

        

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