Woody’s Murder Conviction Upheld By Appeals Court
July 27, 2017 at 5:23 p.m.
By Michael [email protected]
Woody was convicted in October 2016 of two counts of murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Joshua Knisely and Tara Thornburg,
Police say Woody, Kyle Dewart and Thomas Hursey went to Thornburg’s house in Syracuse to steal marijuana in February 2015.
When Thornburg realized the men had no intention of paying for the weed, an argument ensued and Woody shot Knisely and Thornburg.
Woody and Dehart were sentenced to 120 and 110 years in prison, respectively. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld DeHart’s conviction on July 10.
Hursey pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery in connection with the murders, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In Woody’s appeal, he challenged the admission of a 911 tape and body camera footage used in the trial.
Thornburg lived long enough to make it downstairs and identify her shooter in a call to an 911 operator and police who arrived on the scene.
Joe Sobek, Woody’s Lawyer, contended the admission of the tape and video violated Woody’s right to question all witnesses against him.
The court ruled that Thornburg’s statements were made while she was facing an emergency and therefore admissible in court.
“Her statements regarding the identity of the shooter were spontaneous and not prompted by the dispatcher,” Judge Robert Altice, wrote in the decision.
The court also ruled that when police arrive, they had no idea where the shooter was and were trying to deal with an ongoing emergency.
The second part of the appeal dealt with Woody’s prior musical rap performance with a handgun.
During the trial, evidence of Woody performing a rap while loading a gun was entered. Jacob Vanderreyden testified that during the performance Woody’s handgun jammed due to a “failure to feed.”
Similarly, the murder scene contained shells from a gun apparently also caused by a failure to feed.
The court ruled Woody failed to establish that evidence was unfairly prejudicial.
The third element of the appeal sought to challenge the admission of prior rap songs.
During the trial, prosecutors introduced rap songs Woody performed that alluded to violent acts.
Sobek argued these songs unfairly painted his client in a bad light.
The court ruled that even if the rap songs were incorrectly admitted, they were harmless because there was enough evidence to convict Woody.
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Woody was convicted in October 2016 of two counts of murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Joshua Knisely and Tara Thornburg,
Police say Woody, Kyle Dewart and Thomas Hursey went to Thornburg’s house in Syracuse to steal marijuana in February 2015.
When Thornburg realized the men had no intention of paying for the weed, an argument ensued and Woody shot Knisely and Thornburg.
Woody and Dehart were sentenced to 120 and 110 years in prison, respectively. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld DeHart’s conviction on July 10.
Hursey pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery in connection with the murders, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In Woody’s appeal, he challenged the admission of a 911 tape and body camera footage used in the trial.
Thornburg lived long enough to make it downstairs and identify her shooter in a call to an 911 operator and police who arrived on the scene.
Joe Sobek, Woody’s Lawyer, contended the admission of the tape and video violated Woody’s right to question all witnesses against him.
The court ruled that Thornburg’s statements were made while she was facing an emergency and therefore admissible in court.
“Her statements regarding the identity of the shooter were spontaneous and not prompted by the dispatcher,” Judge Robert Altice, wrote in the decision.
The court also ruled that when police arrive, they had no idea where the shooter was and were trying to deal with an ongoing emergency.
The second part of the appeal dealt with Woody’s prior musical rap performance with a handgun.
During the trial, evidence of Woody performing a rap while loading a gun was entered. Jacob Vanderreyden testified that during the performance Woody’s handgun jammed due to a “failure to feed.”
Similarly, the murder scene contained shells from a gun apparently also caused by a failure to feed.
The court ruled Woody failed to establish that evidence was unfairly prejudicial.
The third element of the appeal sought to challenge the admission of prior rap songs.
During the trial, prosecutors introduced rap songs Woody performed that alluded to violent acts.
Sobek argued these songs unfairly painted his client in a bad light.
The court ruled that even if the rap songs were incorrectly admitted, they were harmless because there was enough evidence to convict Woody.
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