In the News - Full Article
December 24, 2007
The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT TO HEAR BEAMAN APPEAL
By Edith Brady-Lunny
The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments Jan. 15 in the appeal of a Rockford man convicted of murdering an Illinois State University student 14 years ago.
Jennifer Lockmiller, 22, was found dead in August 1993 in her apartment on North Main Street in Normal. She had been stabbed with scissors and strangled with the cord of a clock radio.
Alan Beaman, a student at Illinois Wesleyan University, dated Lockmiller. He is serving a 50-year sentence for the August 1993 murder.
Arguments that Beaman should be given a new trial will be made by lawyer Karen Daniel with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.
The defense believes the jury in Beaman's first trial was denied access to evidence that could have created reasonable doubt that he committed the murder.
The defense is expected to focus its arguments on two areas: the opportunity Beaman had to commit the crime and a second suspect the jury was not told about. That suspect is referred to as John Doe in court records.
The defense contends it was unreasonable for Beaman's jury to conclude the former theater major drove 130 miles from his home in Rockford to Bloomington, killed Lockmiller, and returned home without detection.
Information about the actions of Beaman and his mother and telephone records from the day of the murder will play a role in the appeal.
In comments earlier this year, McLean's County chief felony prosecutor Mark Messman said the defense appeal contains no new evidence.
The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL
ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT TO HEAR BEAMAN APPEAL
By Edith Brady-Lunny
The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments Jan. 15 in the appeal of a Rockford man convicted of murdering an Illinois State University student 14 years ago.
Jennifer Lockmiller, 22, was found dead in August 1993 in her apartment on North Main Street in Normal. She had been stabbed with scissors and strangled with the cord of a clock radio.
Alan Beaman, a student at Illinois Wesleyan University, dated Lockmiller. He is serving a 50-year sentence for the August 1993 murder.
Arguments that Beaman should be given a new trial will be made by lawyer Karen Daniel with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law.
The defense believes the jury in Beaman's first trial was denied access to evidence that could have created reasonable doubt that he committed the murder.
The defense is expected to focus its arguments on two areas: the opportunity Beaman had to commit the crime and a second suspect the jury was not told about. That suspect is referred to as John Doe in court records.
The defense contends it was unreasonable for Beaman's jury to conclude the former theater major drove 130 miles from his home in Rockford to Bloomington, killed Lockmiller, and returned home without detection.
Information about the actions of Beaman and his mother and telephone records from the day of the murder will play a role in the appeal.
In comments earlier this year, McLean's County chief felony prosecutor Mark Messman said the defense appeal contains no new evidence.
