Date set for Unger appeal
GREENCASTLE -- A hearing has been set in the appeal of a Greencastle man who is currently serving an eight-year sentence in connection with a battery on a family member.
Jay C. Unger, 56, will be in court March 15 for a hearing on post-conviction relief. Three hours have been allotted for the hearing, which will be presided over by Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley.
Unger is currently incarcerated at the Putnam County Jail. He was sentenced last February after a jury found him guilty in December 2008 of Class B felony aggravated battery, Class C felony battery by means of a deadly weapon, Class D felony criminal recklessness and two counts of Class B felony misdemeanor battery.
Headley ordered that Unger would serve three years at the Indiana Department of Correction, three years on home detention and two years on probation.
In addition, Unger was ordered to pay nearly $47,000 in restitution.
A notice of appeal in the case was filed on March 11, 2009, followed by the filing of a verified petition to remand or stay appeal on April 20, 2009.
On June 26, 2009 Unger's attorney, Jeffrey Baldwin of Indianapolis, filed a petition for post conviction relief on Unger's behalf. The petition alleged several mistakes had been made by Unger's former attorney, Darrell Felling of Greencastle, and stated that the conviction should be set aside because of Felling's errors.
The petition also said Deputy Prosecutor James Hanner, who represented the state in the case, "made improper comments to witnesses in the presence of the jury" and "made improper statements in their closing."
In addition, the petition alleges "the state asked for unauthorized monies in Unger's restitution order."
Unger was charged in September 2007 in connection with an incident in which he struck his brother-in-law, Jack Mace, in the head with a baseball bat. As a result of the attack, Mace sustained permanent hearing loss and brain damage.
During the altercation, Unger also assaulted his sisters, Gene Ann Judy and Mary Jane Mace.
Throughout his trial, Unger maintained that Mace had threatened Unger first and that Unger had acted in self-defense.