A northern Indiana judge has granted a man convicted of killing a South Bend police officer 15 years ago a hearing to present new evidence.
The South Bend Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/QqtV0x ) St. Joseph Superior Judge Jane Woodward Miller will allow 32-year-old Gregory Dickens Jr. to present the evidence Dec. 17. The new evidence was not disclosed.
Dickens was convicted in 1999 of killing South Bend police officer Cpl. Paul Deguch and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2001. In 2010, Dickens filed a request for post-conviction relief. As part of that appeal, Dickens was granted the evidentiary hearing.
Dickens testified at his trial that he did not shoot Deguch, although he admitted being there. Deguch was 30 years old.
