Lawyer Claims Photo Explains Presence of Jason Carter’s Fingerprints on Gun Case
DECEMBER 12, 2018
"KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Both sides have rested their cases in a hearing over whether to overturn a civil judgment in the wrongful death case against Jason Carter – who is accused of killing his mother in 2015....
During the final day of the hearing Wednesday, Jason Carter’s attorneys entered a photo from December of 2003 into evidence that shows Jason assembling a gun case. They say that is how Jason’s fingerprints made it onto the case. During the civil trial, the presence of his fingerprints on the case was used against Jason.
Jason Carter’s attorneys say that is the only piece of forensic evidence against him and the photo from 2003 explains why his fingerprints were found on the item. Jurors in the civil trial never got to see the photo and were not informed about it.
The lawyers in the case have two weeks to submit their briefs to the judge. The judge then has 60 days to issue a written ruling on the case.
Jason Carter’s murder trial has not yet been scheduled but will be held outside of Marion County due to pre-trial publicity."
Lawyer Claims Photo Explains Presence of Jason Carter’s Fingerprints on Gun Case
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As hearing ends, an Iowa judge considers: Should Jason Carter get a new civil trial?
Dec. 12, 2018
"...Marion County Judge Martha Mertz set a deadline for the attorneys to file briefs in two weeks. She planned to decide within 60 days from that time whether to overturn the $10 million civil judgment against Jason Carter or grant him a new civil trial. ...
Jason Carter's lawyers said evidence uncovered during the criminal investigation — which they did not have access to before the civil trial — shows someone else may have killed Shirley Carter in a burglary gone wrong. His attorneys argued the evidence would have changed the course of his civil trial if it had been presented to the jury.
In his closing statements, Mike Weinhardt, one of Bill Carter's attorneys, compared Jason Carter's request to overturn the judgment or obtain a new trial to a scene in 1942 film "Casablanca." His attorneys were trying to "round up the usual suspects," something a police captain said in the movie, Weinhardt said.
"That is nonsense," Weinhardt told the judge, later pointing to Jason Carter, who appeared in court in a maroon plaid shirt. "The killer is right there."
Christine Branstad, one of Jason Carter's attorneys, said jurors were told during the trial that there were two suspects — her client and his father. However, new information now shows there could have been 10 or more, some of whom did not have substantial alibis, she said.
"There were very clearly more," Branstad said, saying jurors only had a 50-50 option at the civil trial for suspects. The new evidence, she said, "changes the fractions."...
With Bill Carter on the witness stand, Jason's attorneys showed a December 2003 photograph of Jason assembling a gun safe that Mark Ludwick, the lead agent on the case for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, had testified his fingerprints were on.
Jason Carter's attorneys said the fingerprints were the only forensic evidence presented during the civil trial that Bill Carter's team said implicated his son. One of Bill Carter’s lawyers said the relevance was not whether he touched the gun safe, but that he lied to police and claimed he had no knowledge of the safe...."
As hearing ends, an Iowa judge considers: Should Jason Carter get a new civil trial?
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