LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The conviction of the man who murdered Indiana University student Jill Behrman remains in effect, a court said Tuesday, which means John Myers will remain in prison.
The court reversed a federal court ruling that had ordered Myers’ release and vacated his conviction in September because of ineffective counsel.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday it agreed that Myers’ counsel was “deficient” but that the conviction stands because of the weight of evidence against him.
The court said that the most convincing evidence included “many self-incriminating statements” from Myers, including that he told his grandmother that he would spend the rest of his life in jail if police found out what he did.
Jill Behrman.
“The weight of these statements, when combined with other evidence, leads us to conclude that his counsel’s deficient performance did not prejudice him,” the court said, according to a story by Fox59. “Our examination of the record leaves us of the firm conviction that even without counsel’s errors, the jury would have reached the same conclusion and found John Myers guilty of murdering Jill Behrman.”
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