Indiana appeals court upholds man’s murder conviction

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld an Anderson man’s murder conviction in the slaying of a man who had won hundreds of dollars from him in a dice game.

Thirty-year-old Jerell Owens was convicted in the February 2007 fatal shooting of Damian Hopkins.

Court records say Hopkins had won several hundred dollars from Owens, who later told Hopkins’ brother that he “would get it back later on.”

The Herald Bulletin reports that Owens was initially sentenced to 110 years in prison but that sentence was later reduced to 73 years.

Owens contended in a subsequent post conviction relief request that he had ineffective counsel during his trial.

But Tuesday’s appellate court ruling found that Owen’s attorney had zealously defended him and the court affirmed his conviction.