Convicted Arsonist Released From Jail

Roger Lee Hale, who has maintained his innocence despite being convicted of a Class A felony charge of arson, was released from prison last week after Kosciusko County Superior Court I Judge Duane G. Huffer granted Hale's petition for post-conviction relief.

Hale, 27, was sentenced May 29 to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of arson following a three-day jury trial. With the order for post-conviction relief, which was granted last week, that conviction was vacated and Hale was released on his own recognizance to await a new trial in the matter.

Hale was charged May 15, 1997, with arson and accused of setting fire to his CR 525W residence on Sept. 24, 1996.

In issuing the order, Huffer noted that the performance of Hale's attorney, Richard A. Thonert, "fell below an objective standard of reasonableness based upon prevailing professional norms" and "there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different."

Among the areas in which Thonert allegedly failed to assist his client were by:

• Not deposing the state's expert on fire origin and cause even though a deposition was scheduled, but Thonert did not appear.

• Not appearing at an appointment to meet the state's expert.

• Not employing an expert as to fire origin and cause to review the report of the state's expert.

• Not employing an expert on fire origin and cause to investigate Hale's house that burned.

• Not employing an expert on fire origin and cause to testify at trial.

• Not meeting or calling as a witness at trial an alibi witness who was named.

• Not reviewing the medical records as to prior treatment of the knee of the fireman who allegedly suffered bodily injury to his knee at the fire.

"Lack of preparedness for trial is not a trial tactic; it is a sacrifice of unarmed prisoners to gladiators," Huffer wrote in the "conclusions of law" portion of Hale's post-conviction relief order.

At the post-conviction relief hearing which took place March 11, Jim McCann, an expert on fire origin and cause, who reviewed reports and testimony of the state's expert on fire origin and cause, testified that several conclusions of the state's expert could be disputed or challenged, according to court documents.

During the April 1998 trial, Hale testified that he did not set fire to his house. The prosecution contended that the fire was set by Hale to erase memories of his ex-wife and to collect insurance money. Firefighter Michael Blair injured his knee on a windowsill while fighting the fire, causing the charge to be elevated to a Class A felony, a more serious offense of arson than would have been filed if no one were injured.

Hale and chief deputy prosecutor Byron Tinkey, who tried the case, could not be reached for comment today.

A hearing to scheduled a retrial in this case is set for 8:30 a.m. April 8.