INTRODUCTION:

THE OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT for Cynthia Sommer in San Diego and throughout the country; in fact, throughout the world, has been enormous. The story of the injustice that she suffered has been reported in media small and large.  From small town local papers in Montana, Maine, and Florida; to major media outlets in New York, Los Angeles, and even Germany, Japan, and across the world.  The following is a summary of many of those reports.

MOTION TO DISMISS THE CASE "WITH PREJUDICE":

WHAT SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN is that this case is still not over. The District Attorney has stated that she still wants to leave the case in such a manner that she could re-charge Cindy at some point in the future!

Cindy and her attorney, Allen Bloom, want this case fully dismissed - with prejudice - as soon as possible.  Towards that end, a hearing has been set in the Superior Court of San Diego County to determine if the case should be dismissed once and for all time. This hearing, currently scheduled for July 18, 2008, will present extensive evidence as to why Cindy's case should, because of the evidence in the case and the improper conduct of the District Attorney, be dismissed once and for all.

5/30/08: This date, the court in Cindy's case ordered that there will be a hearing to decide if the case should be dismissed once and for all. Despite the court's order on April 17 that a hearing should be held to determine if the case should be dismissed "with prejudice", the D.A. sought to overturn that decision arguing that the court had not used proper language to order the hearing. The court denied the D.A.'s motion to abandon the hearing and ordered that it shall be held on the date of July 18, 2008.

As a result of new testing of autopsy tissues of Todd Sommer in April, 2008, (tissues which could have been tested years ago) it was proven that there never was any arsenic in Todd's body, which means that a crime never occurred. On April 17, 2008, the D.A. dismissed the case against Cindy, but stated they wanted the option to re-file the charges at some time in the future. Mr. Bloom objected to that kind of dismissal, saying that he wanted the charged dismissed once and for all time ("with prejudice"). The court ordered that a hearing to determine if the case should be dismissed with prejudice be held on July 18, 2008.

Two weeks ago, the D.A. said the hearing should be abandoned. They conceded that the court has the general power to dismiss with prejudice but argued that the court forfeited that power when it didn't word it's order in the proper way. Mr. Bloom called this effort to be an assertion of "poor judicial punctuation".

Today, the court overruled the D.A.'s argument, saying that it's April 17th order made it's position very clear: a person accused of a crime should have the opportunity to have her case dismissed for all purposes if there is not sufficient evidence to support a new trial, and we will go ahead with that hearing on July 18, 2008.

The court set the date of June 27, 2008, for the D.A. to file its objections to Mr. Bloom's motion to discovery all the details regarding how the D.A. reached its decision to dismiss, what information they got from the new lab, when they got that information, and what was said within the D.A.'s office regarding the new evidence and the decision to dismiss.

COMMITTEE OF INNOCENCE

THE CASE IS NOT OVER IN ANOTHER WAY, AS WELL: Attorney Bloom has proposed that San Diego be the first county in the country that establishes a "COMMITTEE OF INNOCENCE".  This committee, to be made up of a judge, a prosecutor, a defense attorney, a police officer and a defense investigator, would convene whenever there is a case like Cindy's.  Putting an innocent person in jail is the legal equivalent of a plane crash, and the goal of this COMMITTEE OF INNOCENCE would be to gather all the facts and figure out what went wrong in the criminal justice system - which is supposedly dedicated to insuring that the innocent person is NOT put behind bars.

Ultimately, it is hoped that wherever there is a prosecutor, there would also be a COMMITTEE OF INNOCENCE to insure that when cases like Cindy's occur, we don't pretend that they'll never happen again and we won't sweep them under the rug with euphemisms of the type spouted by the San Diego District Attorney: "in this case, the system worked exactly like it was supposed to."

We all know that putting an innocent widow and mother of four in jail for 869 days is NOT the way the system is supposed to work.

Media reports regarding Attorney Bloom's suggestions for the COMMITTEE OF INNOCENCE may also be found below.

SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE:

• The Motion to Dismiss:

04/17/08  VIDEO of the Hearing in which the case against Cindy was dismissed

and Attorney Allen Bloom challenged the DA's position that the system worked "just like it was supposed to":

CBS San Diego Video - Sommer Court Hearing April 17, 2008 (entire hearing)

      "Video Only -- Video footage from a hearing on a motion to dismiss charges against Cynthia Sommer."

Sommer Court Hearing - April 17, 2008 (Parts 1 - 5):

      For computers with a slower connection, the hearing is available in five parts.  Scroll down the page to view.

  04/17/2008  People's Motion to Dismiss

  05/20/2008  Bloom - MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE - Support of Request for Discovery

  05/23/2008  Bloom - MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE - Memo that Court has Authority to Dismiss With Prejudice

  05/28/2008  Bloom - MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE - Reply to Memo That Court Does Not Have Authority

  07/18/2008  Bloom - MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE - Memo that Court has Authority to Consider Post-Trial Evidence

  07/18/2008  Bloom - MOTION TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE - MOTION TO TRANSFER CASE TO JUDGE DEDDEH

• Cindy Sommer, Todd Tice, and Allen Bloom on XM Radio Air America:

AUDIO: XM Radio Air America - "This is America" with Jon Elliott April 18, 2008  -   Part 1   Part 2

Attorney Allen Bloom on XM Radio - "This is America" with Jon Elliot -

In this tape, Mr. Bloom provides a full explanation of the history of the case and the dismissal of the charges.

In an XM Radio interview with Jon Elliot on April 18, 2008, Allen Bloom provides a wonderful capsulation of the Sommer case.  

AUDIO: XM Radio Air America - "This is America" with Jon Elliott  May 15, 2008  -   Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5

Cindy Sommer, Todd Tice, and Allen Bloom on XM Radio - "This is America" with Jon Elliot - 

Parts 1 - 4 are from the interview on May 15, Part 5 is the follow up program on May 16.

• Committee of Innocence:

A NUMBER OF PRINT AND TELEVISION MEDIA REPORTS have focused on Attorney Bloom's effort to create a "Committee of Innocence" to help eliminate cases like Cindy's from ever occurring again.   A summary of those reports are as follows:

ORIGINAL PRINT REPORT: Avoiding prosecution of the innocent - Op Ed by Allen Bloom

San Diego Union-Tribune Newspaper Article by Attorney Allen Bloom - May 1, 2008

"Last week, it became all too clear that the criminal justice system in San Diego seriously malfunctioned. But there's a way to fix it.  As we evaluate the system that produced this tragedy, it is particularly disturbing that uncontaminated evidence that would release her from years of prison was just 10 minutes away. Still, there is something that can be done to make our system better."

Two weeks ago, his client, Cynthia Sommer, was released from jail - and spared from what could have been a life behind bars - after new testing raised a reasonable doubt that she had poisoned her husband.  But Bloom refuses to just walk away. He is proposing the creation of a standing "Committee of Innocence," made up of prosecutors, defense attorneys and investigators, the presiding judge and the police.

POST-DISMISSAL MEDIA REPORTS REGARDING THE CASE:

  ARTICLE: Sommer's Case May Go Back to Judge

The question of whether the murder case involving Cynthia Sommer will be dismissed forever could be handled by the same judge who granted her a new trial late last year, another judge ruled yesterday.

  ARTICLE: Marine's Widow Gets Hearing on Flawed Arsenic Test

A San Diego judge says lawyers for a widow cleared of murdering her husband can call witnesses to testify about flaws in the original tests used by prosecutors to show the Marine was poisoned with arsenic.

ARTICLE: Same Judge To Handle Fate of Sommer Case

The question of whether the murder case involving Cynthia Sommer will be dismissed forever may be handled by the same judge who granted her a new trial late last year, another judge ruled Friday.

05/30/08:

ARTICLE: Judge Retains Power to Dismiss Sommer Case With Prejudice

A judge ruled Friday he still has authority to dismiss the case, with or without prejudice, against a woman accused of poisoning her Marine husband, which could prevent the charges from being filed again.

ARTICLE: Court to consider blocking new charges against widow

A judge ruled Friday that a lawyer for Cynthia Sommer, the Marine widow once accused of murdering her husband, will be allowed to argue a motion that - if granted - would bar prosecutors from retrying the case.

ARTICLE: Court will consider blocking new charges against widow

A San Diego judge says he will hear a widow's request that the court block prosecutors from refiling murder charges against her in the death of her Marine husband.

05/17/08:

ARTICLE:  NBC San Diego - Marine Widow To DA: 'Back Down'

"It seems to me that the more they fight, the stronger we'll fight. So, I won't back down." - Cynthia Sommer

ARTICLE:  Fox News San Diego - Prosecutor: Judge Lacks Power to Dismiss Case Against Ex-Murder Defendant

Raising the possibility that criminal charges could resurface, a prosecutor argued Friday that the judge who dismissed the case against a woman accused of poisoning her Marine husband does not have the power to dismiss the case "with prejudice," which would prevent the charges from ever being filed again.

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune - Prosecutors in Sommer case move to leave options open

A new twist was added to the court case against Cynthia Sommer on Friday when prosecutors told a judge he doesn't have the right to tell them if they can ever again file murder charges against Sommer in connection with the death of her Marine husband.

ARTICLE:  Internet Broadcasting Systems - Dismissing Poisoned Marine Charges 'With Prejudice' Debated

In court Friday, Deputy District Attorney Laura Tanney told Judge John Einhorn that the court doesn't have the authority to dismiss the case with prejudice, a position that Sommer's attorney, Allen Bloom, disagreed with.

05/02/08:

ARTICLE:  NEWSWEEK: Widow cleared of murder wants death certificate changed

 The Death Certificate Must Be Changed - NEWSWEEK ARTICLE outlining Cindy's effort to have the Todd Sommer's death certificate changed back to "natural causes" and the government's refusal to do so at this time.

"SAN DIEGO (AP) - Cynthia Sommer has a death certificate for her Marine husband that lists homicide as his cause of death. Forensic experts said Todd Sommer was poisoned with arsenic.  But the lab results underpinning that finding were discredited two weeks ago, leading prosecutors to release the widow from jail more than two years after she was incarcerated for the supposed crime. Now, Cynthia Sommer wants the death certificate rewritten to show her husband wasn't murdered."

04/25/08:

  VIDEO: Marine Widow's Attorney Accuses DA Of Misconduct

NBC San Diego News Report outlining Attorney Bloom's statement of how the D.A. thwarted efforts to reveal the exonerating evidence throughout the case.

"The lawyer for a marine widow freed after more than two years behind bars says prosecutors misled him about evidence that cleared his client of fatally poisoning her husband."

AUDIO: Prosecutors Defend Evidence in Sommer Trial, Despite Reservations

PBS San Diego Report outlining the D.A.'s attempt to thwart efforts to reveal the exonerating evidence and their post-trial claims attempting to justify their conduct:

"San Diego County prosecutors are defending the use of key evidence in the murder trial against Cynthia Sommer - even though experts had reservations from the beginning. Sommer was released from jail after that evidence was found to be contaminated."

PRINT REPORT: Our obligations in the District Attorney's Office - Op Ed by Bonnie Dumanis

San Diego Union-Tribune - The D.A.'s claim that the "system worked just like it should have". Her claim that the buck stopped with her and then her transfer of blame to others in the system:

"As district attorney for San Diego County, the buck stops with me. In the high-profile prosecution of Cynthia Sommer for murder, our office made the right choices for the right reasons at every step in the process. But last week, we were all reminded the criminal justice system is not perfect, and I understand how recent developments in the case raise several questions."

DOCUMENT:  Coroner email (also linked in above story)

Email proving that the D.A.'s own witness had concerns about their evidence BEFORE THE TRIAL STARTED!

"At least one of the prosecutor's lab technicians raised concerns about the accuracy of the tests. In a pre-trial e-mail to the county coroner, he wrote, 'I don't have a good interpretation of these results.'"

ARTICLE: Prosecutors Defend Evidence in Sommer Trial, Despite Reservations

PBS San Diego Online Report revealing "it was also wrong for prosecutor Laura Gunn to say she was unaware.."

"No one from the D.A.'s office will talk on tape. A spokesman say it was also wrong for prosecutor Laura Gunn to say she was unaware of untested samples that could exonerated the defendant."

ARTICLE: This was a case of prosecutorial failure - By Ruben Navarrette Jr.

San Diego Union-Tribune - Even in a criminal system that is as adversarial as this one, they take a special oath to not simply win convictions but to see that justice is done.

"Any prosecutor can convict a guilty person. It takes real skill to convict the innocent.  I've decided that San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis makes a strong argument - for appointing district attorneys rather than electing them."

ARTICLE: Cindy Sommer's Long Vindication - Dateline

MSNBC DATELINE - Josh Mankiewicz describes "What no one listened to, apparently, was that there wasn't a single shred of evidence that Cindy Sommer had bought arsenic, asked anyone about it, handled it, or Googled it."

"It's been a long road for Cindy Sommer. Her U.S. Marine husband died in February, 2002, and she just got out of jail last week after being convicted by a jury of his murder. Now here's the hitch: she's innocent. Officially."

ARTICLE WITH LINKED VIDEO: A Trace of Suspicion - Dateline

MSNBC DATELINE - "A Trace of Suspicion" with Josh Mankiewicz, aired April 25, 2008.

"Marine widow Cindy Sommer has had a long trip from grieving wife, to suspect, to convicted killer -- and now, a free and innocent woman."

Also on this program are interviews with NCIS agents and jurors. 

04/24/08:

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune: Sommer lawyer contests claim about evidence - By Dana Littlefield

"A lawyer for Cynthia Sommer, the woman formerly accused of killing her Marine husband with arsenic, is disputing a claim that prosecutors didn't know about previously untested evidence in the case until last month."

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune - Bonnie Dumanis' rough month continues - by Chris Reed

"First there's a new wrinkle in the Cynthia Sommer debacle that makes the district attorney's conduct look even worse."

ARTICLE:  Associated Press - District attorney investigates widow's murder case

"San Diego's district attorney is investigating how a case unraveled against a young widow charged with killing her Marine husband with arsenic amid criticism that prosecutors ignored warnings that tissue was contaminated."

ARTICLE:  Associated Press - San Diego prosecutors plan review of widow's murder trial

"San Diego's district attorney says her office will conduct an internal review of how it handled the case of a widow cleared last week of charges that she murdered her Marine husband with arsenic."

ARTICLE:  CBS San Diego Investigation: First Look At Tissues That Exonerated Marine Widow

"For the first time, we are seeing the tissues that tested clean for arsenic and freed Marine widow Cynthia Sommer from jail. But the discovery of these samples is raising new questions about the role of prosecutors in the case. News 8 investigates why the district attorney's office now says they knew about the tissue samples all along."

VIDEO:  CBS San Diego Investigation: First Look At Tissues That Exonerated Marine Widow

"Cynthia Sommer is out of jail after two and a half years, wrongly convicted of murdering her husband with arsenic. She's free because tests showed no arsenic whatsoever in previously untested tissue samples from her dead husband, Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer."

DOCUMENT:  2002 Autopsy List

Naval Medical Center Laboratory Department Autopsy Pathology for Todd Sommer

DOCUMENT:  2005 Case Evidence List

U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service - Post Mortem Specimens Retained by AFIP & Balboa Naval Hospital

DOCUMENT:  2007 Tissue Sample Navy Memo

Memo regarding retention of autopsy materials in the case of Sergeant Todd Sommer dated August 31, 2007

DOCUMENT:  2008 DA Motion to Dismiss

A copy of the People's Motion to Dismiss Case No. SDC 195202

DOCUMENT:  CBS San Diego - Prosecutor Laura Gunn's Response to Questions

"Cynthia Sommer case deputy district attorney Laura Gunn responds to News 8's email questions from April 23, 2008."

04/23/08:

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune - Sommer's lawyer disputes claim prosecutors didn't know about untested evidence

"A lawyer for Cynthia Sommer, the woman formerly accused of killing her Marine husband with arsenic, is disputing a claim that prosecutors didn't know about previously untested evidence in the case until last month."

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune - DA should remember fate of those before her by Gerry Braun

"And last week, after announcing that a lab had botched one of her cases, leading to a wrongful murder conviction, Dumanis shrugged it off like she was Doris Day. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be."

VIDEO:  MSNBC "Verdict" with Dan Abrams April 23, 2008

Cynthia Sommer, along with her attorney Allen Bloom, appeared on "Verdict" with Dan Abrams on April 23, 2008.

VIDEO:  CBS News The Early Show - Acquitted Marine Widow Speaks

"Cynthia Sommers [sic] was acquitted of murdering her Marine husband after spending two years in prison. Hattie Kauffman reports and Harry Smith speaks with Sommer, her lawyer, and her cousin."

04/22/08:

ARTICLE:  MSNBC Today Show - Wife cleared of murder "overwhelmed with emotion"

"Having been exonerated of charges she poisoned her Marine husband to death, Cynthia Sommer is out of prison and renewing bonds with her children."

ARTICLE:  Inside Edition - Marine's Wife Free in NYC

"After nearly 2.5 years behind bars, Cynthia Sommer is enjoying her first taste of freedom after being wrongfully convicted of murder.  INSIDE EDITION caught up with her in New York City, where she was relaxing and enjoying her freedom."

ARTICLE:  Los Angeles Times - She did the time, but not the crime

"On Thursday, [San Diego County] Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis moved to dismiss murder charges against Sommer, telling reporters at a hastily called news conference that overlooked evidence and new scientific scrutiny had poked holes in the prosecution's assertion that she used arsenic to kill her husband, [Marine] Sgt. Todd Sommer."

04/21/08:

VIDEO:  Cable News Network Larry King Live - King show helps set woman free

"Court exonerates Cynthia Sommer, who was convicted of murdering her husband. Attorneys credit Larry King Live."

This Larry King Live interview was filmed April 18, and aired April 21, 2008

ARTICLE:  In Session Blog - Cindy Sommer's long, strange journey - by Beth Karas

"When I interviewed Cindy Sommer at the Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility here a week ago, neither one of us had any idea that she was spending her last days behind bars. She was a free woman four days later."

04/19/08:

ARTICLE:  Los Angeles Times - Newly freed widow of Marine may sue the D.A. in San Diego

"It's scary how [prosecutors] are dealing with this now," Bloom said. "They're taking credit for doing the right thing. They didn't do the right thing! Justice was done, but not because of the prosecution in this case but despite the prosecution."

04/18/08:

ARTICLE:  Inside Edition - Marine's Wife Exonerated

"It was a stunning moment as Cynthia Sommer walked out of jail a free woman. She's been cleared of murdering her Marine husband with arsenic so she could use his life insurance money to buy breast implants. Shockingly, it now turns out there was no poison found in his body after all."

ARTICLE:  CBS San Diego - Alternate Juror From Panel That Convicted Sommer 

"For three weeks, Lorie Cosio-Azar listened as prosecutors attacked Cynthia Sommer's character, and jurors questioned her innocence. But Azar says she knew early on something wasn't right."

VIDEO:  CBS San Diego - Alternate Juror Interview

Lorie Cosio-Azar: "I felt like it took a long time for justice to be served, but I knew she was innocent... and if you just listened closely and paid attention you would have heard that too," she said.

ARTICLE:  Associated Press - Prosecutors play defense over handling of Marine widow case

"Prosecutors who had accused a woman of killing her Marine husband with arsenic played defense on Friday after new tests showed no traces of poison and forced them to drop murder charges."

ARTICLE:  San Diego Union-Tribune - Marine widow criticizes prosecutors

"Cynthia Sommer had sharp words Friday for San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis after a judge dismissed charges that she murdered 23-year-old Sgt. Todd Sommer in 2002."

ARTICLE:  Associated Press - Widow cleared of Marine's death criticizes prosecutors

"A woman cleared of killing her Marine husband with arsenic after two years in jail says she doesn't know how prosecutors can sleep at night.

Cynthia Sommer's sharp words on Friday are for San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis."

ARTICLE:  PBS San Diego - Freed Widow Blames D.A. for Unfair Persecution 

"Sommer says she barely slept on her first night of freedom. She spent more than two years in jail after being convicted of poisoning her Marine husband with arsenic. Prosecutors now say the evidence was tainted."

ARTICLE:  TransWorldNews - Cynthia Sommer Cleared of Killing Marine Husband

"Cynthia Sommer has been cleared of the murder of her Marine husband. Sommer was convicted of poisoning her husband Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer, 23, with arsenic to pay for breast implants. He suddenly collapsed and died February 18, 2002."

ARTICLE:  United Press International - Test clears woman of poisoning husband 

"Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband."

ARTICLE:  Cable News Network - Charges dropped against widow accused of killing Marine 

"Prosecutors who were preparing for Cynthia Sommer's second trial found that previously untested samples of Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer's tissue showed no arsenic."

ARTICLE:  CBS San Diego - Marine Widow Freed After New Evidence Surfaces 

"Justice was done in this case, but it wasn't because of the effort of the prosecution," Bloom told reporters. "It was despite the effort of the prosecution."

ARTICLE:  Marine Corps Times - Murder charges against Marine widow dropped 

"The local prosecutor dropped murder charges against a Marine widow convicted last year of poisoning her husband wi