EVANSVILLE — A Vanderburgh County judge declared a mistrial in John M. Stevens' murder case Tuesday after prosecutors said some state lab results were “inadvertently” not forwarded to the defense.
Stevens, 42, stands accused of killing his 85-year-old grandmother, Betty Stevens, on June 1, 2022. The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office ruled that Betty Stevens died due to strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.
According to Sgt. Anna Gray of the Evansville Police Department, responding officers found Betty Stevens “beyond help” in the backyard of her East Michigan Street home. John Stevens became a suspect for police from the start − he reported his grandmother’s death but allegedly insisted that police not visit her home.
Prosecutors charged John Stevens with murder, a Level 1 felony, and other offenses for the killing of his grandmother in June 2022, but questions about his competency to stand trial delayed court proceedings throughout much of last year, court records show.
On Jan. 26, Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Judge David Kiely found that John Stevens lacked “the ability to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense at trial.” That finding resulted in an order that John Stevens be committed to the Indiana Department of Mental Health for a psychiatric evaluation.
State mental health officials submitted an updated competency report in April and soon after, the court scheduled John Stevens to stand trial beginning Monday.
According to public records, 12 jurors and two alternate jurors were seated in the case Monday afternoon, and the trial was set to begin in earnest Tuesday.
But Magistrate Ryan C. Reed, of the Vanderburgh County Circuit Court, declared a mistrial in the case and later dismissed the jury, a docket entry states.
Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers told the Courier & Press that the mistrial stemmed from lab results that John Stevens' legal counsel had not been afforded the chance to review.
“The evidence tendered indicated samples were taken and sent to the lab, and we also notified the lab personnel as a witness for trial, but some of the results came in at a later date and were inadvertently not sent to the defense,” Moers wrote in response to a reporter’s question. “The mistrial is essentially a continuance to give the defense more time to look over (the results).”
The Courier & Press attempted to contact defense attorney Steve Owens by phone and e-mail Tuesday afternoon seeking comment but did not immediately receive a response.
A hearing in the case was scheduled to be held Thursday at 10 a.m.
Houston Harwood can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com.
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