Clients
Iris Seabolt
Iris Seabolt was convicted of felony murder in 2004 based on the August 2000 murder of A.J. Williams in Elkhart, Indiana. She was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The NDEJC filed a petition for post-conviction relief in Elkhart County court on Ms. Seabolt's behalf in June 2021 (Case No. 20D03-2106-PC-000019). Ms. Seabolt was released from prison on parole in May 2022, after serving nearly 19 years in prison. However, she remains wrongfully convicted of murder.
Ms. Seabolt alleges that newly discovered evidence, including affidavits from several key witnesses recanting their testimony and statements against her, prove her innocence. She alleges that former Elkhart Police Department Detective Stephen Rezutko and other Elkhart officers fabricated witness statements against her and that Detective Rezutko had a sexual relationship with two female alternate suspects in the case. The Elkhart Police Department twice made findings that Detective Rezutko engaged in improper sexual acts with informants in Elkhart criminal cases, but the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office and Elkhart Police Department allegedly concealed this information from criminal defendants (including Ms. Seabolt) for decades. And, Ms. Seabolt alleges that the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office and Elkhart Police Department concealed additional material exculpatory and impeachment evidence from her, including (1) undisclosed deals with key witnesses; (2) a video-recorded interrogation of Ms. Seabolt's co-defendant in which Detective Rezutko threatened to bring capital murder charges against him and personally participate in his execution, if he didn’t cooperate, a recording that Detective Rezutko previously testified under oath did not exist.
Leon Tyson
Leon Tyson was convicted of murder in 2017 based on the June 2015 shooting of Tommie Lee Strowder in Elkhart, Indiana. He was sentenced to 63 years in prison. Mr. Tyson filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief in Elkhart County court in 2018 (Case No. 20D03-1807-PC-000037), and the NDEJC appeared on his behalf and filed an amended petition for post-conviction relief in May 2021.
Mr. Tyson alleges that newly discovered evidence proves that he is innocent and that another man killed Mr. Strowder. Multiple witnesses, including the other suspect's own mother, have come forward and identified the other suspect as the shooter. Mr. Tyson further alleges that the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office suppressed material exculpatory information that would have helped prove his innocence at trial.
Jason Hubbell
Jason Hubbell was convicted of murder and criminal confinement in 1999 based on the 1997 abduction and killing of Sharon Myers in Columbus, Indiana. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison. Mr. Hubbell filed a federal habeas petition challenging his conviction in August 2020 (Case No. 1:20-cv-2217 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana), and the NDEJC appeared on his behalf in October 2022.
In December 2023, Mr. Hubbell filed a successive petition for post-conviction relief in Indiana state court. Mr. Hubbell alleged, among other things, that the State of Indiana withheld from his attorneys material, exculpatory evidence showing that Michael Dean Overstreet was the man who actually murdered Sharon Myers. In February 2025, Judge Kelly Benjamin of Bartholomew County Circuit Court held an evidentiary hearing on that petition.
On September 11, 2025, Judge Benjamin entered an order vacating Mr. Hubbell’s convictions. As Judge Benjamin found, there were “stunning similarities” between Myers and Eckart’s murders. The two young women were abducted from nearby towns just months apart. Both were abducted from or after leaving their place of work. Both were believed to have been abducted in a van. Both had their shoes removed during their abductions. Both were killed in the Atterbury Wildlife Preserve in between Columbus and Franklin, Indiana. And both were strangled with ligatures that were made from their own clothing. As the judge explained, given these similarities, any information linking Overstreet to Myers or her abduction would have been “significantly favorable evidence” for Hubbell.
Judge Benjamin found that the State had improperly withheld from Hubbell and his attorneys an “overwhelming” amount of exculpatory evidence. Among other things, the State withheld evidence that Overstreet left his home early on the morning of Myers’s abduction and murder, stated that he was going to Myers’s place of employment, was gone all day, and returned home at the end of the day covered in blood. The State also withheld evidence from several sources who “provided a personal connection between Overstreet and Myers.” When questioned about his role in Myers’s murder at the evidentiary hearing, Overstreet invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
Finally, Judge Benjamin found that the Columbus Police Department’s lead detective on the case “intentionally failed to truthfully inform” Hubbell’s lawyers of this evidence during a pre-trial deposition. She found that this detective “had his sight on one suspect only and that was Hubbell,” and that this “tunnel vision” led the Columbus Police Department to “withhold[] material exculpatory evidence that either implicated Overstreet in Myers’s homicide and/or linked Overstreet to Myers.” The judge also found that this exculpatory evidence had been “intentionally delet[ed]” from the lead detective’s notes on the Myers homicide investigation.
Rodolfo Alexander
In 2004, Rodolfo Alexander was convicted of the August 2003 murder of Karla Castro in Elkhart, Indiana. In February 2024, the NDEJC appeared on Mr. Alexander’s behalf in Elkhart Circuit Court in connection with post-conviction challenges to his conviction (Case No. 20C01-2102-PC-000007). Mr. Alexander alleges, among other things, that Elkhart County elected prosecutor Vicki Becker knowingly presented false evidence against Mr. Alexander in violation of his constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause. The NDEJC presented evidence supporting his claims at a September 29, 2025 evidentiary hearing.
Brent Eggleston
In 2003, Brent Eggleston was convicted of felony murder in connection with the November 2002 murder of Clayton Schwab in Elkhart, Indiana. In July 2025, the NDEJC filed a petition for post-conviction relief on Mr. Eggleston’s behalf in Elkhart Circuit Court (Case No. 20C01-2507-PC-000017). Mr. Eggleston’s petition alleges that new evidence shows that Mr. Eggleston was not involved in Schwab’s death. Mr. Eggleston’s petition further alleges that (1) the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office withheld favorable, material evidence from Mr. Eggleston and his attorneys; and (2) Mr. Eggleston’s attorney’s legal representation of Mr. Eggleston was constitutionally deficient, including because his attorney was simultaneously representing the principal alternate suspect in the case.
Kevin Taylor
In 2011, Kevin Taylor was convicted of felony murder in connection with the May 19, 2003 murder of Gwendolyn Hunt in Elkhart, Indiana. In November 2025, the NDEJC filed a motion for leave to file a successive petition for post-conviction relief on Mr. Taylor’s behalf. In his proposed petition, Mr. Taylor alleges that new evidence shows that he was not involved in the robbery and murder of Ms. Hunt. This new evidence includes three key witnesses who allege that their testimony was false, fabricated by Elkhart police and prosecutors, and the product of undisclosed promises of consideration. Mr. Taylor further alleges that the State withheld from his attorneys critical evidence that would have destroyed the integrity of the State’s case against him.
Kelly Scott Thomas
In 2011, Kelly Scott Thomas was convicted of felony murder in connection with the May 19, 2003 murder of Gwendolyn Hunt in Elkhart, Indiana. In December 2025, the NDEJC filed a motion for leave to file a successive petition for post-conviction relief on Mr. Thomas' behalf. In his proposed petition, Mr. Thomas alleges that new evidence shows that he was not involved in the robbery and murder of Ms. Hunt. This new evidence includes three key witnesses who allege that their testimony was false, fabricated by Elkhart police and prosecutors, and the product of undisclosed promises of consideration. Mr. Thomas further alleges that the State withheld from his attorneys critical evidence that would have destroyed the integrity of the State’s case against him.