There’s now a contested race for Vanderburgh County Prosecutor.
Former prosecutor Stan Levco announced his intention to run in the November election against incumbent Republican Nick Hermann.
Levco made the announcement inside the Old Courthouse, with a number of prominent local Democrats standing behind him.
Levco said Hermann has been ineffective…
"Since 2016, his office has tried 92 jury trials. The jury returned not guilty verdicts in 41 of those cases. That's 45% not guiltys."
Hermann responded that he has prosecuted suspects more aggressively than Levco did during his time in office…
"If we have a case that could be 50-50 and we have a victim that's onboard and wants to go and we have law enforcement that wants to go, then we're going to go. And I don't see any shame in that."
WNIN News asked Levco what impact the “not guilty” verdicts in the Aleah Beckerle case had on his decision to run…
"Zero. As a matter of fact I will tell you, I had been discussing for months -- more than months -- with Mr. Danks whether I'd run or not. The morning of the Beckerle trial I called him up and said I'm in, I’m committed."
A few days later, a jury convicted Terrence Roach of criminal confinement and abuse of a corpse in the Beckerle case, but not murder or kidnapping.