US referee murder case dismissed
Source: AFP |
December 2, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A JUDGE on Friday dismissed the case against a professional US tennis referee accused of bludgeoning her husband to death with a coffee cup.
Prosecutors said they were "unable to proceed" against Lois Goodman, 70, who was arrested in New York in August, as she was preparing for the US Open, and charged with using a coffee cup to kill her husband Alan, 80.
The prosecutors cited "new information" in the case as the cause for their decision, but would not say what it was.
Goodman pleaded not guilty, and Friday's hearing in Los Angeles was to decide if there was enough evidence for a trial. But judge Jessica Silver dismissed the case, albeit "without prejudice," meaning charges could be filed in the future.
"I'm so happy," Goodman said outside the court, adding: "I feel wonderful ... I've always maintained my innocence," and that her husband's death was "just a tragic accident".
Goodman had told investigators that her husband died when he fell down the stairs on April 17 in their home at Woodland Hills, in suburban Los Angeles.
But police found blood in the bedroom, stairway and other places in the house, and no signs of forced entry, prompting them to declare the death a homicide and issue an arrest warrant for Goodman. Police said she "allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death with a coffee mug" and an affidavit said she also stabbed him with the mug. The complaint said she "personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, to wit, coffee cup."
Prosecutors said they were "unable to proceed" against Lois Goodman, 70, who was arrested in New York in August, as she was preparing for the US Open, and charged with using a coffee cup to kill her husband Alan, 80.
The prosecutors cited "new information" in the case as the cause for their decision, but would not say what it was.
Goodman pleaded not guilty, and Friday's hearing in Los Angeles was to decide if there was enough evidence for a trial. But judge Jessica Silver dismissed the case, albeit "without prejudice," meaning charges could be filed in the future.
"I'm so happy," Goodman said outside the court, adding: "I feel wonderful ... I've always maintained my innocence," and that her husband's death was "just a tragic accident".
Goodman had told investigators that her husband died when he fell down the stairs on April 17 in their home at Woodland Hills, in suburban Los Angeles.
But police found blood in the bedroom, stairway and other places in the house, and no signs of forced entry, prompting them to declare the death a homicide and issue an arrest warrant for Goodman. Police said she "allegedly bludgeoned her husband to death with a coffee mug" and an affidavit said she also stabbed him with the mug. The complaint said she "personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, to wit, coffee cup."
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