A judge declared a mistrial in the case of a Florida mom who is facing a murder charge related to the beating death of her son.
Erica Dotson, 31, has maintained that she thought her son was injury-prone and believed the excuses her boyfriend, Joshua Manns made. Manns also faces murder charges and is being tried separately, WESH-2 reported.
"I genuinely believed my son was just having accidents. I believed everything that Josh said," Dotson said on the stand, according to the station. "I just didn't see what was going on. I wasn't home much."
Later in the trial, after Dotson had testified, Judge Steve Henderson declared a mistrial, saying prosecutors had withheld information from the defense.
"The state is required to turn over any co-defendant statements and the state has failed to do that," Henderson said, according to WESH-2. "I don't know why the state failed to do that but you know it did."
Henderson described the failure as "willful" on the part of prosecutors. After Dotson testified, prosecutors used information from interviews with Manns as part of their cross-examination of Dotson despite the fact the allegations had not been shared with the defense, WESH-2 reported.
FOX 35 reported that if she had been convicted in the case, Dotson could have faced the death penalty. The station reported that prosecutors have contended that Dotson was aware of the abuse and helped cover it up, while the defense has said that she was a busy working mother who believed what Manns told her.
The mistrial is not an acquittal, and prosecutors can refile charges however the legal process essentially starts over.
