News Archive

Professor Fran Watson, '80, talked with the Post-Tribune in Gary about the issues for the defense and the prosecution in a nearly 40-year old murder case.

Police officer Lawrence Pucalik was killed as he was working at an off-duty security job at a hotel in Hammond. Two men with handguns demanded money from the register, and Pucalik was shot as he walked into the hotel and was trying to get at his own firearm.

The defendant, James Hill, has been charged twice in the case, first in 2012, only to have the case dismissed two years later. It was refiled in 2016. Of the two other defendants in the case, one suffered a stroke rendering him unable to stand trial, and the other could face charges now that he is out of prison on an unrelated matter.

Hill's witnesses have since died, and the length of time that has passed since the crime occurred will hurt the prosecution as well, Professor Watson said in the story. Physical evidence may have more of an impact on the jury than witness testimony, she said.

“If you had tangible evidence, that would be something the jury could sort of literally hold on to,” Professor Watson said in the story. “Any jury likes that.”

Hill and one of the co-defendants, Larry Mayes, were convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman in Hammond in 1982. Hill was sentenced to 35 years in prison, and released in 1998. His conviction was set aside, and he filed a civil suit in 2010. Mayes' conviction was also set aside and he received $4.5 million after he filed a similar civil lawsuit against Hammond. Professor Watson was one of the attorneys who represented Mayes in that matter.

Professor Watson is the founding director of the Wrongful Conviction Clinic at IU McKinney. She is a clinical professor of law and teaches in the Criminal Defense Clinic and the Wrongful Conviction Clinic.