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    Kevin Charles Isom - Indiana Death Row


    Cassandra Isom


    Kevin Charles Isom


    Death Penalty Trial: Jury Selection Begins For Kevin Isom in 2008 Indiana Murders of 3 Family Members

    Prosecutors in Lake County, Ind., will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his family last summer.

    Prosecutors say Kevin Isom shot his wife and her daughter and son inside the family's apartment in Gary on August 7, 2007. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 40-year-old Cassandra Isom, 17-year-old Michael Moore and 13-year-old Ci'Andria Cole.

    According to a court affidavit, Isom allegedly told investigators that he shot his family because his wife was going to leave him. He also said she had been supporting the family on her own and that he had not been working.

    Now Isom also faces four attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting at police officers who had responded to a hostage situation at the Lake Shore Dunes complex, where Isom allegedly killed his wife and stepchildren.

    "Every death is traumatic to a police officer, but the death of children perhaps hit them more. For the officers who came under fire, it brings home the danger they face," said Gary Police Cmdr. Sam Roberts.

    "We have to send a message to the public that we cannot allow anyone to harm our officers," added Gary Police Det. James Bond.

    Isom is currently being held at the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Ind.

    Gary police investigated 71 homicides in the city last year.

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    Death penalty trial set for Gary man

    Public to pay a portion of costs for his defense

    CROWN POINT - A judge ordered a 42-year-old Gary man to stand trial early next year on death penalty murder charges that he killed his wife and two children.

    Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak also formally committed the public to pay for part of the trial's expense but warned Kevin C. Isom's attorneys there is a limit to what he will allow.

    "I have to balance the taxpayers' interests with the defendant's rights to a fair trial. I don't want to open the county's checkbook to be pillaged by defense experts," Stefaniak said.

    Isom, a former security officer, has pleaded not guilty to charges he fatally shot his wife of 12 years, Cassandra Isom, 40, and her two children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, on Aug. 6, 2007, at the family's Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in Gary's Miller section.

    Stefaniak ordered Isom's trial to begin the week of Feb. 22.

    Capital murder defendants are typically represented by the public defender's office because such high stakes cases require such expensive pretrial preparation that involves hiring at least two attorneys and a stable of defense investigators and experts. The courts have overturned death penalties because of poorly prepared defense strategies.

    Veteran defense lawyers Nick Thiros and Alison Benjamin are defending Isom as private attorneys, but Thiros asked the judge to order the state to pay for a psychologist to examine whether Isom was insane at the time of the crime and a mitigation expert to look into Isom's background for mitigating factors that would be used to argue against Isom's execution if he is convicted.

    Thiros said earlier Isom doesn't believe he killed anyone because he has no memory of the day, although he has reported seeing "disturbing images of brutality."

    Police said neighbors heard shots in the defendant's and victims' apartment and a young girl shouting, "Daddy, don't do that." Police said someone fired shots at officers responding to the call before officers broke in and found the victims dead and Isom with a head wound inside.

    Benjamin said the psychologist may cost $2,500 to $3,500 for the initial examination and an extra $1,800 each day if required to testify in court on his findings. The mitigation expert may be paid as much as $140 per hour.

    Lake County public defender David Schneider said his office has plans to spend at least $200,000 in local tax dollars for death penalty defense involving this and other cases to be filed.

    Stefaniak has scheduled a pretrial hearing Dec. 8 to determine whether to suppress a statement Isom made to police after the killings. The defense is arguing the confession wasn't voluntary and question the authenticity of Isom's signature on the confession.

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/4bb87fed-9ffa-50d6-8a12-8a51ff896729.html

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    Judge vows racial justice for murder defendant and prosecutors

    Lake County's race history could be in the docket next month along with a Gary man going on trial for death penalty murder.

    Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., lawyers for Kevin Isom and the prosecutor's office have spent more than four months combing through a randomly selected list of 500 county residents for an impartial jury.

    Isom is pleading not guilty to charges he fatally shot his wife of 12 years, Cassandra Isom, 40, and her two children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, on Aug. 6, 2007, at the family's Lakeshore Dunes apartment in Gary's Miller section.

    The prosecutor will seek the death penalty when the trial begins Sept. 26.

    Stefaniak acknowledged this week from the bench during a pretrial hearing jury selection will be difficult given the life-or-death stakes involved, and that Isom is a black man in a county where a debate remains whether he can get a fair verdict and sentence from the majority of county white residents.

    To prove his zeal to provide a jury pool with a fair cross-section of the county's minority population, Stefaniak has been taking what he calls unprecedented steps.

    He ordered two black women in that group of 500 who hadn't completed juror questionnaires into his courtroom Thursday to explain why. He ordered the arrest of one of them who didn't appear at Thursday's hearing but who showed up. Both filled out their questionnaires.

    The judge further ordered his staff to investigate the demographics of an additional 44 no-shows.

    "This is above and beyond the call of duty, but the more people who fill out jury qualification forms from this random pool gives the defendant the greatest chance of having a jury of his peers and to take prospective appeal issues off the table," Stefaniak said.

    Stefaniak said he would not tolerate lawyers using race as an excuse to exclude whites from a jury.

    The judge came under attack for his handling five years ago of jury selection in the death penalty trial of Darryl Jeter, a 24-year-old black Chicago man convicted of murdering 27-year-old Indiana State Police Trooper Scott Patrick in 2003.

    Jeter's lawyers argued to the Indiana Supreme Court that Stefaniak denied Jeter a fair trial by thwarting their strategy to exclude white jurors.

    They justified striking whites from the jury on grounds "racism was so inherent in the jury-selection process that especially in the case of a black defendant and a white victim, a black defendant has the greatest risk of receiving a death sentence when white males serve on the jury."

    Stefaniak, who was speaking publicly about this for the first time, said he permitted Jeter's defense lawyers to exclude whites from the jury panel until four blacks were seated on the 12-member jurors -- a reflection that blacks constitute one-quarter of the county's population.

    Stefaniak blocked further defense efforts to exclude white jurors he thought were racially motivated. That 2006 jury of two white males, two white females, two Hispanic males, two Hispanic females, three black females and one black male convicted Jeter, but refused to impose the death penalty.

    The Indiana Supreme Court upheld Stefaniak's jury selection on grounds Jeter only was entitled to an impartial jury from a fair cross-section of the county's demographics, not some hard quota.

    Isom has a different team of defense lawyers who has similar concerns about selecting a jury. Lake County public defender Casey McCloskey responded, "We are seeing the jury pool numbers skewed toward (white-dominated) south county."

    Stefaniak responded, "I will do everything in my power to have a fair trial."

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1ULiC9eV3

  4. #4
    These trials almost always end up in some plea agreement the final minute. I hope they proceed to trial with this case.

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    Isom jury count stuck at nine

    The number of jurors seated for the murder trial of Kevin Isom remained at nine for the third day running on Monday.

    Isom faces the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole if convicted of killing his wife and her two children.

    Should jurors ultimately fail to recommend either option, Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. may sentence Isom to a specific number of years, ranging from 40 to 65 years on each murder count.

    Jury selection in what had been expected to be a four-week trial began Feb. 27, but jury selection on Monday entered a third week.

    In addition to the typical 12-member jury, four alternates must be seated, rather than two, before the trial can move to opening arguments.

    Isom, 46, is accused of the Aug. 6, 2007, shooting of his wife, Cassandra, 40, and her children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, in the Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in Gary's Miller neighborhood

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1ox2qlBLJ
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    Isom murder trial starts Monday, more than 5 years after alleged crime

    Opening statements in the capital murder case of a Gary man charged with killing his wife and two stepchildren are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Monday.

    Defendant Kevin Charles Isom, who turned 47 on Friday, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife, Cassandra Isom, 40, and his stepchildren, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci’Andria Cole, 13. Isom also has pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder involving Gary police officers who responded to gunfire on Aug. 6, 2007, at the family’s apartment in the Lake Shore Dunes complex in the Miller section.

    http://posttrib.suntimes.com/1739011...ged-crime.html
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    Snail's pace jury selection delays start of death penalty trial

    As the week wound down Friday, jurors tallied fewer than half the number needed to try a Gary man accused of murdering his wife and two stepchildren.

    Only six of the needed 12 jurors and two alternates had been selected.

    Kevin Isom, 46, faces the death penalty if convicted of the Aug. 6, 2007, shooting of his wife, Cassandra, 40, and her children, Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, in the Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in Gary's Miller neighborhood.

    In most such high-level felony cases, court watchers see prospective jurors questioned as a group of 12 with the number of excused jurors immediately replaced by a like number from the jury pool seated in the courtroom.

    Jury selection seldom takes more than a day.

    But Isom's 270-member jury pool is being whittled down one by one, which is why it is taking so long. Beginning a week ago, jury selection began as early as 8 a.m. and ended as late as 7 p.m.

    Unlike most trials, members of Isom's jury pool are not present during the intensive questioning by Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. and/or attorneys for the state and the defense.

    Yet court officials familiar with the process said last week the individualized approach used in Isom's trial is not that unusual and is not specific to Isom's being at risk of the death penalty if convicted.

    "It's not unheard of, but it's not in every case," said veteran defense attorney Thomas Vanes, of Merrillville.

    Vanes said the manner and mode of choosing a jury tend to be "case-sensitive," and procedures can vary by court.

    For example, in federal courts in the area, all questioning of potential jurors is conducted solely by the judge. But in Lake County, the judge as well as prosecuting and defense attorneys may ask questions.

    "Questions can be submitted by both sides, but the questions are to be asked by the judge" in federal cases, Vanes said.

    Another Lake County official familiar with the courts, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the death penalty case, said defense attorneys often request individual questioning be done to prevent the views expressed by jurors during questioning to affect the rest of the jury pool.

    "The first task is to find the person guilty or not guilty, like in any other murder case," he said of Isom's trial. "Then, it moves into the penalty phase."

    After conviction, jurors also have the option of choosing life without the possibility of parole in lieu of death.

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...#ixzz1oFC3Fgty

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    Isom jury selection stands at 12; five alternates still needed

    Prosecutors reported Friday that jury selection in the Kevin Isom death penalty case reached its goal of 12 regular jurors.

    Isom, 40, faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder in the 2007 slayings of his wife and two stepchildren in their Miller apartment.

    Last week Isom's defense team questioned Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. about how many alternates he expected to be selected in addition to the 12 regular jurors.

    Stefaniak held firm to naming five alternates as initially announced.

    It was unclear Saturday how many jurors of the 404-member jury pool remained to be interviewed.

    Stefaniak had more than doubled that number to a maximum of 1,150 to avoid a replay of failed jury selection in March. That effort ended in a mistrial when the jury pool was depleted with only nine jurors seated.

    Each juror undergoes often meticulous questioning by Stefaniak, as well as deputy prosecuting attorneys David Urbanski and Michelle Jatkiewicz and defense attorneys Herbert Shaps and Casey McCloskey.

    In the forefront is often the juror's attitude toward the death penalty because jurors alone will determine Isom's fate if convicted: the death penalty, life without parole or a specific number of years in prison.

    Jurors in the case against Darryl Jeter, the last defendant to face a capital trial, rejected the death penalty in favor of life without parole.

    Jeter lost his state appeal, but continues to seek post-conviction relief in Lake County courts. Jurors found Jeter guilty of murder in the shooting death of Indiana State Trooper Scott Patrick in 2003.

    Isom's trial is set to open Jan. 7 following a hiatus over the upcoming holidays.

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...a8f3be544.html
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    Jury sentences convicted murderer Kevin Isom to death

    A Lake County jury took less than two hours Friday to sentence convicted murderer Kevin Isom to death.

    Lake Criminal Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr., set Isom's formal sentencing for March 8.

    Isom was convicted Tuesday of three counts of murder and three counts of criminal recklessness in connection with the events of Aug. 6-7, 2007, during which he killed his wife and two stepchildren, later firing on responding officers.

    Found dead in the family's Miller apartment in Gary were Cassandra Isom, 40, and the stepchildren Isom had helped rear during the couple's 12-year marriage -- Michael Moore, 16, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13.

    Each had suffered a shotgun blast and other multiple wounds tied to two handguns Isom admitted owning.

    Jurors also found Isom guilty of three counts of criminal recklessness for shooting at responding officers during a subsequent standoff with police. Jurors were not charged with sentencing Isom on the three felonies. Sentencing on those counts will be imposed by Stefaniak. Each carries a sentence between six months and three years in prison.

    Jurors, however, had the sole responsibility for determining the sentence on the three murder counts. Their options had included the death penalty, life without parole or a specific number of years to be imposed by Stefaniak.

    Because of the possibility of the death penalty or life without parole, the trial was conducted over five weeks in two phases: the first phase to determine Isom's guilt and the second to determine his sentence.

    The trial began Jan. 7.

    The sentencing phase began Wednesday, the morning after Isom's conviction.

    Jurors heard family members testify about Isom's background and character.

    The grandson of an Arkansas sharecropper, Isom was reared primarily by his mother, Lula Isom, and his grandmother, Julia Isom. Also involved were numerous aunts, the sisters of Lula Isom, one of seven siblings.

    That Isom was brought up primarily by women without the presence of a male role model was one of more than 30 mitigating factors jurors were asked to consider.

    The others included his childhood in a gang-ridden Chicago housing project with all its associated risks before moving to Gary with his mother and a cousin.

    By not only the family's accounts but also those of a variety of expert witnesses, Isom thrived regardless of the negative influences, the first male in his family to graduate from high school.

    He held a variety of jobs as a security guard for some 15 years, mostly unsatisfactory to Isom, until landing a job where he found steady employment for four years.

    Isom lost that job a month before the shootings. The accompanying strains in Isom's marriage provided motives for prosecutors throughout the trial as possible causes for the shootings.

    Experts testified Isom suffered extreme emotional disturbance throughout his life and after the death of his family, so severe multiple experts testified Isom's claims to not remembering the shootings were valid.

    Stefaniak revealed Wednesday a plea agreement for Isom was never viable specifically because Isom couldn't remember anything, so could not admit to any facts.

    Forensic psychiatrist George Parker returned to the stand Wednesday for the second time during the trial, saying, "This is to him a mystery."

    There had been no history of domestic violence.

    Parker said Isom's symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome had abated over the years but he suffered from dis-associative amnesia.

    Psychologist James Garbarino, of Loyola University Chicago, testified to the effects of violence on children and adolescents, saying the consequences can include difficulty in processing information, problems in school, emotional disconnection and the brain re-shaping itself.

    Responses may differ, however, depending on the child's support system and temperament.

    http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...c9036ea7b.html
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Isom death penalty murder hearing reset for August

    The death penalty murder case of a Gary man charged with killing his wife and two stepchildren has been postponed until August.

    Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. granted a request by the defense to delay the start of the trial until Aug. 2 for Kevin Charles Isom.

    Isom, 44, of the Miller section of Gary, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder. He is charged with killing his wife, Cassandra Isom, 40, and stepchildren Michael Moore, 17, and Ci'Andria Cole, 13, on Aug. 6, 2007, at their Lakeshore Dunes apartment.

    Isom also has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder counts involving four Gary police officers who authorities said Isom fired at.

    Statements conflicting in Indy man's murder trial

    Lake Superior Court jurors heard different versions of the same incident during opening statements for an Indianapolis man on trial for felony murder.

    Terrell Bryannt Nelson, 33, has pleaded not guilty to murder in perpetration of a robbery, robbery, confinement, carrying a handgun without a license, resisting law enforcement and possession of marijuana.

    Deputy prosecutor Christine Parry said in her opening statement that a Feb. 16, 2009, robbery of Antoine Howard in Gary's Midtown section "ended in murder" when Gary police fatally shot Darnell Russell, who authorities said participated in the robbery and refused to drop a gun he was holding.

    Defense attorney Kristina Garza said no robbery took place and that Howard has provided different accounts of what happened that day. Garza said her client never went inside Howard's home. Instead, he dropped off the two men and picked them up later.

    Both Russell and Howard are grandsons of former Gary Police Chief Cobie Howard.

    Arthur Lewis, who was mistakenly released from the Lake County Jail during the weekend, was acquitted in March of murder in perpetration of a robbery, robbery and confinement, but was convicted of a handgun charge, resisting law enforcement and being an habitual offender.

    He faces a maximum 21-year sentence on May 6.

    Lewis has also been charged with escape and his girlfriend, Shelba L. Yosha, has been charged with assisting a criminal and driving with a suspended license.

    http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/2207460,new-isom0427.article

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