Date set for Unger appeal

Monday, January 4, 2010

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.

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  • Can anyone explain why he is still in the Putnam County jail? I thought he was sentenced to DOC?

    -- Posted by whodouthinkur on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 8:26 AM
  • Unger has it easy in Pcj. He gets to live in a trustee dorm and pass out trays to the other inmates! Currently they live in a trustee block and get to watch tv and they even provide these trustee inmates with a PS2 and other activites to help pass the time. This is a bunch of crap commit a crime and and serve easy time. Whatever happened to hard time?

    -- Posted by 1stamendrights on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 9:42 AM
  • You beat your brother-in-law with a baseball bat and want to claim self defense.Did your sisters threaten you too?I think he got off easy,let him do his time!

    -- Posted by obeone on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 10:03 AM
  • you should try to hear both sides of this story , how about how mr mace changed mr ungers mothers will and only mr mace and his wife were in the scuffle and it,s funny how come some of the evedence came up missing and this so called scuffle happened at mr ungers house???? and how about the injurys mr unger got from it ?? and his son mr mace attacked both mr unger and his son with the bat if read the report and mr unger got it away from him and used it in self defence. sounds to me like from what i,ve seen about this mr mace had some inside help on this conviction .,if you want the real truth print both sides of the story and hit the middle . and being a trustee at the jail isnt all it,s hoped to be your constantly worried about making someone offended and getting put back in a block and you put in long days and do work your tail off. look at the yard gang they have they do a good service and hardly get a thank you from anyone.

    -- Posted by mrcatfish43 on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 2:46 PM
  • This man is dangerous! He should not be released! He is violent and was out of control when he attacked his sisters and brother-in-law. He has been violent all his life. Please, Judge Headley, do not release him because of lawyer talk about "mistakes" and "improper comments".

    -- Posted by not gullible on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 2:50 PM
  • not gullible you sure sound gullible to me or your mr or mrs mace using this name try looking up mr ungers records and see how violante this man really is . i hope he does get out and lets see how fast justice works . evidence comes up missing after the arrest and officers wouldnt listen and file reports as to who wanted to file them huh lets talk about the real story and the whole story

    -- Posted by mrcatfish43 on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 7:16 PM
  • evidence came up missing in this case too.LOL man if you guys know anyone in jail or read the banner everyday. there has been alot of cases with evidence missing. look at the tammy wade case. home detention lost some of her files, oh and about the trustees.... yea they might get all that stuff in there dorms but there treated like slaves. and most of the guards that work there have either been arrested or hang out with half the people that are in there. PUTNAM COUNTY is a twisted redneck town. kinda like the movies. who cares if this man gets released, if he truly is a criminal then he'll be right back in there. so what are you freaken out about (not gullible) grow a spine!!!!! Back off of people, everyone makes mistakes just cause you havent got caught doesnt make you any better.

    -- Posted by haveaheartpeople on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 11:49 PM
  • I don't think that mrcatfish23 sat through three days of testimony

    when the trial took place. If so, he sure didn't hear the same story that those in the courtroom heard. The scuffle didn't happen at "Mr. Unger's house". Also, if you have read the articles or attended the trial, you would know the Mace's weren't the only ones in the scuffle, another sister was also involved. And you would have seen that sizewise, the three of them are all small people, and the Unger son that was involved is quite a bit bigger than any of the others. And if some male (notice I didn't say "Man", because that's not something a man does!) knocked your sister, wife or another family female member to the ground, would you just stand by and watch? And, how can somebody change someone else's will? And I don't think that was included at the trial. YOU MUST BE GETTING YOUR INFO FROM THE UNGERS - maybe a trustee with him from your comments?

    -- Posted by howsthishappen on Tue, Jan 5, 2010, at 8:36 AM
  • "Back off of people, everyone makes mistakes just cause you havent got caught doesnt make you any better" I have made some poor decisions but I never beat someone with a Louisville slugger!

    -- Posted by 1stamendrights on Tue, Jan 5, 2010, at 9:36 AM
  • mrcatfish43 you have to be kidding me!!?!! As far as I know it is a choice of the inmate whether they are a Trustee or not, so I would think it would be better than just sitting in a cell all day. As far as the "Yard Gang" not even getting a thank you, you have to be joking! Why isn't just going to bed at night knowing yourself that you did the best job you could do at whatever you do be enough? Why shouldn't they do work to earn their room and board that taxpayers are paying for? Nobody, but themselves, made them go to jail. I also think that incarceration should be hard, it shouldn't be a day at the spa or be like home. You are there for punishment and that is exactly what it should be. And again, I would think it is better than sitting in a cell all day. Just my opinion.

    -- Posted by NotSoInnocent on Tue, Jan 5, 2010, at 10:03 AM
  • I understand the PC Jail is to house DOC inmates, y not house inmates in PC jail whom don't live in Putnam Co.

    I think the inmate housed at jails should be the ones getting ready to get out. Let them see real prison first.

    Think I would be upset if someone wronged me and get to run as a trustee in jail. It's like going to a Federal Prison Camp. maybe better.

    -- Posted by Sand mann on Tue, Jan 5, 2010, at 11:12 AM
  • I understand Mr. Mace isn't doing all that bad-that he has spent months on a house making it livable for his wife's sister and husband. I would think if he is capable of building a home he is doing pretty good.

    -- Posted by peace2019 on Wed, Jan 6, 2010, at 3:50 PM
  • Why can't people mind their own business? This is a very sad situation. Sounds like the family members are using the Banner graphic as a tool to keep poking at each other.

    -- Posted by Hawkeye on Thu, Jan 7, 2010, at 8:57 AM
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