Defendant on trial for 2000 murder of IU student tells judge he has an alibi

John R. Myers II's lawyer plans to file an alibi for the defendant in the murder of IU student Jill Behrman, who disappeared May 31, 2000, after she went for a morning bike ride in the Bloomington area, court documents said. \nMyers, 30, of Ellettsville, was charged with the 19-year-old's death April 11, after an exhaustive grand jury investigation into her death narrowed in on him. Myers became a person of interest for the Indiana State Police in December of 2004.\nIn a motion released Tuesday by the Morgan County Superior Court, defense lawyer Patrick Baker, of Indianapolis, argued that after reviewing the grand jury's extensive transcript, which numbers 6,185 pages, he has found evidence of his client's alibi for the day of May 31. Many of the details of the grand jury investigation, which include interviews with more than 90 witnesses, remain sealed.\nThe alibi was not released to the public. Baker's motion to file a "belated notice of alibi" said it involves telephone records of a conversation or conversations between Myers and a female witness who was deposed by the defense August 11.\nBaker stated in the motion that the defense was unable to file the notice of alibi earlier because of the length of the grand jury transcript and the dates depositions were taken. \nThrough "Third Party Requests" at the end of August, the defense was able to retrieve these telephone records from the Smithville Telephone Company of Ellettsville and CenturyTel of Tennessee.\nBaker said he presumed that the exclusion of these records in the court's "sweeping" discovery order meant the state had "either intentionally withheld them from the defense counsel or failed to provide them through gross negligence."\nThe motion asked Judge Christopher Burnham for permission to file the Notice of Alibi as Exhibit A, even though the deadline was Aug. 1.\nThe jury selection for the Behrman trial is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Martinsville.