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New Trial For Cynthia Sommer

By TChris, Section Court Decisions
Posted on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 08:29:31 PM EST
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Criminal trials are fraught with peril, and no defense is ever perfect. Credit Robert Udell for his stand up decision to testify that he mistakes during his defense of Cynthia Sommer, who was charged with murdering "her Miramar-based Marine husband."

Sommer, 34, was convicted by a jury in January of first-degree murder in the death of Sgt. Todd Sommer. Prosecutors said he died of arsenic poisoning. ... Udell said Friday he failed to call witnesses to refute testimony about where the arsenic – found in some of Todd Sommer's bodily tissues – could have come from.

Udell also admitted opening the door to evidence that his client used her husband's life insurance proceeds to enlarge her breasts.

She was depicted as a widow who partied and had sex with several men instead of mourning her husband's death.

Superior Court Judge Peter C. Deddeh granted Sommer a new trial.

< Conviction Reversed After Jurors Consult MySpace | A Slap on the Corporate Wrist >

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    New Trial For Cynthia Sommer | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Udell's "stand-up decision" (none / 0) (#1)
    by diogenes on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 09:27:49 PM EST
    If Udell isn't shrewdly lying to set up a second-shot trial for his client, then he is guilty of such gross negligence that he should be sued for legal malpractice and his license to practice law should be evaluated by the state bar association.
    Not calling "witnesses", if they exist, to give alternate sources of arsenic in an arsenic poisoning case needs to be explained.  That action makes no sense.  Sort of like not doing CPR when your patient's heart stops beating.
    i assume, since it didn't say (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 11:15:14 PM EST
    in the linked story, that the prosecution presented some evidence showing that ms. sommer actually poisoned her husband? if not, then she was convicted, solely because she didn't express the approrpriate level of grief, based on the prosecutor's determination?

    please tell me i missed something in this picture.

    The Shameful Conviction of Cindy Sommer (none / 0) (#3)
    by MsJustice on Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 01:57:55 AM EST
    Cpinva:

    I  regret to have to be the one to inform you that unfortunately, you are not "missing anything in this picture.".

    Sadly, it is true that outside of extraordinarily questionable "scientific" results performed on tissue samples taken from Todd Sommer at autopsy, and stored/handled for 3 years without proper documentation, that yes, the only "evidence" the state had was what was termed "conduct unbecoming a widow", and a  250,000 life insurance policy which Ms. Cindy Sommer freely chose to put the great majority of in a trust fund for her children. There was also a monthly pension that she received as well, but that was somewhere around 1,400.00 monthly, if I recall correctly. With 4 children , I hardly see that as being more than a "drop in the bucket".

    The highly questionable "science" showed that there was over 1,000 times the normal levels of arsenic in Todd's kidney, and there was 250times the normal level of arsenic in his liver. Not to mention the fact this had a DMA speciation of 100%! What is absolutely contrary to those results being accurate, is that there was not any arsenic in any other tissue/fluid samples tested. None in the blood, none in the urine, and none elsewhere. At the agreement of all of Todd's family members, Todd was cremated, so unfortunately, further tissue can not be taken and tested. There are many reasons the defense contends these results to be faulty, however, some more of the most troublesome come in when you consider that the lab which performed the testing, did so in the Environmental area of the lab, NOT the Forensic area of the lab, where such tests should be done. Additionally, there appear to be more than 16, yes, 16 breaks in the chain of custody of the samples during the storage period prior to testing. Many respected, and well renowned forensic toxicologists and now a renowned pathologist as well, have rejected the findings/results from the testing. Some have said they believe contamination at some point during the testing or prior to testing is responsible for the faulty results. There is much more wrong with this picture, and I feel strongly that the truth will be revealed at the re-trial.

    The bottom line for me here is that the State contends that the behavior of Cynthia Sommer was shameful and inappropriate following the death of her husband. I reject that notion out of hand as not being anything more than a manifestation of coping with grief. What I consider shameful is that the state introduced such beaviors as "evidence" in a murder trial, where not only did they not connect the alleged arsenic to the alleged murderer, they didn't even conclusively connect it to the victim. Todd Sommer was NOT poisoned, and I hope and pray that the state left enough samples for the defense to PROVE that conclusively. This conviction is wrong and its shameful. (See more Info @ www.freecynthia.com)


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    Cynthia got more than she's due. (none / 0) (#4)
    by Sometimey on Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 07:44:38 AM EST
    Defendants are denied new trials when their attorney was drunk, slept, or witnesses lied, or evidence was withheld . . . Cynthia Sommer got a new trial, because she belongs to a category our judiciary is loath to lock up . . .

    http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/247082

    the attorney should pay all legal costs (none / 0) (#5)
    by katmandu on Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 06:26:49 PM EST
    It looks like he knew his client didn't have a
    chance and left the case wide open for appeals.
    He ought to be responsible for all the costs of
    jury, judge, and whatever.
    By the way, the reason for limited areas of
    arsnic saturation is due to a massive one time
    consumption, instead of multiple smaller amounts.
    Todd Sommer was not murdered! (none / 0) (#6)
    by moda on Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 12:50:15 PM EST
    katmandu - Where on earth did you get the idea that "the reason for limited areas of arsnic [sic] saturation is due to a massive one time consumption, instead of multiple smaller amounts." ???

    In the first trial, the prosecutor couldn't even pin down when she thought this might have happened - but one thing was certain, nobody opined that it was any time prior to 10 days before Sgt. Sommer died.  Some said it might have been a couple of doses in that 10 day time period, some said it was only one on Feb 8, and another said it was only one on Feb 17.  

    NONE of this makes any sense, anyway!  Read on:

    There were SIXTEEN BREAKS in the chain of custody for those tissue samples from the organs Cindy willingly donated...

    There is NO LINK between Cindy and arsenic - she didn't research it, she didn't discuss it, and she didn't purchase it...

    The scientific evidence does not support death by arsenic poisoning. There is no evidence Todd Sommer was murdered.

    The Medical Examiner, Glen Wagner, was baffled by the results of the heavy metals testing, so he contacted his old colleague, Jose Centeno. Centeno admitted that he initially had reservations about the test results and considered whether the tissues had been contaminated. Centeno said, "I had never seen such high levels of arsenic."

    In an e-mail he sent to Wagner, Centeno said he was "surprised" by the high levels of arsenic found in the liver and kidney, which were inconsistent with the negative results in the blood and urine.

    Centeno said he had considered, and then rejected the possibility, that the samples could have been contaminated upon collection.

    WHY did he reject that possibility? WHY was the Death Certificate amended?  

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    New Trial For Cynthia Sommer | 6 comments (6 topical)