Local Conviction Upheld

The Indiana Supreme Court announced Wednesday that the decision of a Kosciusko County jury will stand in a 2003 murder trial.

In September 2003, a Kosciusko County jury found Jason Davidson guilty of the 2002 murder of Samuel Creekmore. Wednesday, Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed received word that the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict.

The Court of Appeals in Indiana informed Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed April 13 that the Davidson murder conviction was overturned.

In September, the Indiana Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from the Indiana Attorney General and attorneys representing Davidson and decided to overturn the original ruling, sending the case to the Indiana Supreme Court for review.

Davidson's attorney argued that instructions given to the jury at the 2003 trial were not adequate because they made no mention of the crime being voluntary.

Davidson's proposed final jury instruction No. 3 was, "To convict the defendant, the state must have proved each of the following elements: The defendant: (1) knowingly or intentionally (2) and voluntarily (3) killed (4) Samuel Creekmore."

The instructions approved and read to the jury said, "To convict the defendant, the state must have proved each of the following elements: The defendant: (1) knowingly or intentionally (2) killed (3) Samuel Creekmore."

The appeals court said the jury instructions should have included the term "voluntarily."

According to the decision handed down Wednesday by the Indiana Supreme Court, part of Davidson's defense was "that a combination of Ambien and Zoloft can affect a person's control over impulsive behavior, causing one to become uninhibited."

The Supreme Court said "there is no indication in the Model Code that it was designed to cover garden-variety or even exotic claims about the use of drugs or alcohol. Indeed the Model Code contains a separate section on intoxication as a defense. ... Indiana law provided that intoxication is a defense only if the defendant did not consent to the introduction of the substance into his body or if the defendant was unaware the substance might cause intoxication."

The court document went on to say, "If instead we treat intoxication as raising the question of voluntary conduct, the result would be that all intoxication would be a defense. All the available legislative history about the origins of these provisions. is to the contrary."

Davidson was sentenced to 55 years in prison for Creekmore's murder.

"It is apparent from the record that the trial court did in fact consider a reduced sentence, by virtue of its statement, 'that for the Court to consider a reduced sentence would depreciate the value or depreciate the value or depreciate the seriousness of the crime.'

"The trial court did not err in sentencing Davidson," said the decision from the supreme court.