Update on cynthia sommer case

[JSinSOCAL]

see story 'Sommer's bid for exoneration on hold'

Link to San Diego UT
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...m27sommer.html

[Dogmatic]

Why are they dragging this out?

He was either poisoned or he wasn't.

Which is it?

[BillE]

Dec. 5, 2008 hearing--Judge Einhorn sets hearing for May 4, 2009 to decide whether or not to dismiss her case "with prejudice". The news article is at:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...05sommers.html

[Topaz]

she should sue their a$$es off-- the prosecution!

They may be holding this over her, as a bargaining chip.
ie. drop the suit (if it ever comes) and we will remove the "prejudice".

Originally Posted by Topaz

she should sue their a$$es off-- the prosecution!

They may be holding this over her, as a bargaining chip.
ie. drop the suit (if it ever comes) and we will remove the "prejudice".

I hope she sues them and wins millions. This is an unbelievable story. A totally innocent woman being convicted because of aggressive prosecution, based on an obvious lab error. This case should have never gone to trial in the 1st place.

[fairlaw]

I am amazed to find no discussion of this. It is now 8:30, so only has a half an hour to go.

[kellabeck]

They left a lot of incriminating evidence out of the account.

[tvdinners]

Originally Posted by kellabeck

They left a lot of incriminating evidence out of the account.

They sure did. There's A TON of incriminating evidence against the SDCDA's office in this case!

Any evidence they had against Ms. Sommer was either erroneous or embellished... and it doesn't count now because:

Todd Sommer Was Not Murdered

[Raguilar2009]

SHAME ON YOU LAURA GUNN!!! you try and convict because you have a license to steal peoples lives... like the life of Cynthia Sommer you so carelessly almost stole. YOU PERSONALLY OWE CYNTHIA FOR THE TWO PLUS YEARS YOU TOOK OF HER LIFE in addition to the irreparable emotional damage you have caused her to suffer for the rest of her life!!! SHAME ON YOU LAURA GUNN. You have let everyone down, including your former friends and family that you have brought so much shame on them as well. Your carelessness in this case was not a lack of training as much as it was a reflection of your character, or the lack there of. All your previous cases should be ordered for review. You are a terrible lawyer, much more, a Deputy D.A. Please resign immediately. You are not competent.

[kanzz]

Bravo Raguilar2009!!

You sound very knowledgeable on this subject - especially when you say "You have let everyone down, including your former friends and family that you have brought so much shame on them as well."

ITA with all you said. So, let me just echo:

SHAME ON YOU LAURA GUNN

[LisaM22]

I think because she was not guilty of any crime they should leave her alone and stop retrying the case on the air and bringing this back to the surface again and again - jmho

[fairlaw]

Pia, I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner.

I thought that the "Snapped" program was the wrong place for Cynthia's case. Cynthia did not "SNAP", Cynthia tried to save her husband's life.

Cynthia's story needs to be shown from the end, to the beginning.
It is not helpful to show the utterly false crap that sent Cynthia to jail, and then show that she was utterly innocent.

I want a show that tells the truth from the beginning. That the DA and LG had more than abundant information that a crime never took place, yet they expended every ounce of their resources to put an innocent woman in prison for life.

I want a show that shows the corruption of the SD DA's office in this case. And I really want a show that gives Cynthia a gazillion buckies for what they did to her.

I know that you, like me, have believed this was a case of prosecutorial misconduct from the beginning. For The Love Of God, Even the expert that the Pros hired to prove her guilt, told them that the lab results made no sense and that this WAS NOT a case of arsinic poisoning.

He testified for the defence.

But as we all know by now, LG didn't give a darn if there wasn't a shread of evidence, she went after Cynthia's actions and character.

Despite dozens of cases across the nation of apparently healthy young men dying of sudden cardiac arrest. LG SWORE to the jury that no young man had EVER died like that.

I, personally, sent LG and the defence, dozens of cases of young high school sports players, young college sports players, ect, who had died of exactly that in the past few years. LG DIDN'T CARE!!

To LG, it was nothing but a game. A game to win at all costs. She would have let Cynthia spend the rest of her life in prison, just so LG could win.

I am nothing but sincere in my conviction that LG and the DA should both be sentenced to what they falsly caused Cynthia to be sentenced to.

But will they? HE** NO, they will keep prosecuting and persecuting innocent people, with impunity. This system sucks, real bad.

I would say that the most deeply disturbing and heart breaking part of this, besides the misconduct, is that this happened in California.

We are all well aware that there are places in our wonderful country where there are pockets of ignorance, places where if the Cop says it's true, it is true, places where if the DA goes to court on it, then the person is guilty, places where people, and sickingly funny, the folks know that their cops are corrupt and their DA is corrupt, yet they convict anyone who is brought to court.

What a mess, and we have got to fix it.

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by ~FallenAngel

yeah it was a great show. CS was on there, her brother and the Pros even admitted they royally fudged up.

and at the end you find out CS and her family have all went bankrupt trying to pay her legal bills

that is so sad, the state should have to work to make it right with Cynthia - they should not be able to destroy someone and just walk away... though I am glad to hear the prosecution admitted they were wrong, that should help some

even had her husband died from arsnic poising like they originally thought, that still would not of proven she did it, the prosecution was using behavior to get the jury to convict and that is wrong, that seems to be a new tactic that DA's are using nowadays

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by Pia

Fairlaw, I agree that Cindy’s story needs to shown in full. I do like the way Snapped did it though when they didn’t go into detail about the “bad behavior” but I do wish they had focused more on that being what convicted her. I guess there is only so much they can do in an hour.

One other thing you mentioned about “Snapped”. They had begun this after Cindy’s conviction but before she was granted a new trial. From my understanding a majority of these interviews were done before the case was dismissed. I guess they were planning to make it look as if she had indeed ‘snapped’. That is why when I first heard of them doing the show not long after the verdict, I was upset.

I am with you though on her story getting out there. ALL of it. From the time of Todd’s death until now. Especially this fight over dismissing with prejudice.

I want everyone to know that still today, more than nine months after they have evidence that there was no arsenic in that man’s body, that his death certificate still states the cause of death was ‘homicide by arsenic poisoning’. I don’t care if they do still think that Cindy may have somehow killed Todd, they KNOW she didn’t do it with arsenic so that should not be on the death certificate. Glenn Wagner testified in court that when there is evidence of a different cause of death, the case MUST be reopened and the COD changed. Did he lie on that stand or is he not doing his job now?

Even if the case is ‘reopened’ they aren’t going to find arsenic so why not remove it from the COD? Because imo without it they have nothing to fight this dismissal with. I have no idea why they want to drag this out unless it is just pure meanness. It certainly is not justice.

good point on COD, did he lie or not doing his job now, maybe a little of both?

[Topaz]

I think a terrible crime was committed here AGAINST Cynthia Sommer.

Why can't there be an investigation, and all of the people who handled the samples that were contaminated, take a polygraph, and see who
did this deed?

Someone tampered with evidence, and obviously people covered that up.
They should be brought to justice, and Cynthia should receive compensation for her 2 yrs in prison, and the loss of her financial resources to defend herself against this spurious prosecution.

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by Topaz

I think a terrible crime was committed here AGAINST Cynthia Sommer.

Why can't there be an investigation, and all of the people who handled the samples that were contaminated, take a polygraph, and see who
did this deed?

Someone tampered with evidence, and obviously people covered that up.
They should be brought to justice, and Cynthia should receive compensation for her 2 yrs in prison, and the loss of her financial resources to defend herself against this spurious prosecution.

I agree, it is sad that when people in the system attack you, you have to fight the system to get justice

[awareness]

its just not right what happened to Cindy & her family. Especially her relationship with her children! They should NOT have to pay a dime for legal fees, this is all the fault of an over-zealous prosecutor.


Did Cindy say she planned on suing the city of SD at all? or Laura Gunn?


Fairlaw - there was a HUGE thread/folder about the case when the trial was going on, even afterwards. When the old board shut down/crashed and the new insessions board opened, the old folder was archived or maybe deleted.

[Dogmatic]

Laura Gunn did a huge disservice to Cindy Sommer and family.

More globally, her biggest disservice was to the families of future victims who's killers may walk free because jurors will come to distrust what the prosecution is offering up as fact.

Laura Gunn has publicly impacted our judicial system in a horrific way

[Dogmatic]

As a side note: I was one of those that just "knew" Cindy was guilty. In all my years, I have never come across a person that "grieved" the way Cindy did. I believed what the prosecution offered up as fact, and Cindy's "way of life" was consistent with a person that was happy to see her spouse gone.

I am also one that will now want a prosecution to show me more evidence than necessary to prove guilt, thanks to Laura Gunn et al.

It's still my opinion that Cindy is too selfish to be a good parent, but I firmly believe she did not kill her husband. She didn't love him much, imo, but she did not kill him.

[fairlaw]

I'm happy that you are not one of the real stupid people who still insist that somehow/someway/by some magical method, she killed him.

However, I think I disagree with your position that she didn't love him much. We have all heard her 911 call. To me she sounded like a loving wife who was trying desperately to save her husband.

San Diego County owes Cynthia a LOT of money, does anyone know if her atty is working on that?

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by grammybear

This is so sad that this woman has had her life put her whole life put on hold while the court is playing games with her and her childrens life. I don't remember a whole lot about her case, but wasn't she found guilty because she did not show to be a grieving wife or am I thinking of another woman?
I sure hope this gets settled soom so she can get her sons back and the whole family can start healing.

jmoo

yep, some said she was guilty because she stopped off for a pack of smokes on the way to the hospital....

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by Dogmatic

As a side note: I was one of those that just "knew" Cindy was guilty. In all my years, I have never come across a person that "grieved" the way Cindy did. I believed what the prosecution offered up as fact, and Cindy's "way of life" was consistent with a person that was happy to see her spouse gone.

I am also one that will now want a prosecution to show me more evidence than necessary to prove guilt, thanks to Laura Gunn et al.

<snip>but I firmly believe she did not kill her husband. She didn't love him much, imo, but she did not kill him.

that is a good thing, I hope others have learned the same from the nightmare Cindy had and is still going through

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by ~FallenAngel

too selfish to be a good mother? most of the insurance she put into a trust fund for her children to go to college. i didn't hear anyone ever say she was a bad mother. She got her children back and she works two jobs to take care of them.

It's my opinion that she was selfish in her role as a mother. In my opinion, when you have four children and you lose the main bread winner in the household, the last things you do are: tattoos, plastic enhancements, trips to Mexico etc. And you certainly don't allow men to immediately enter your childrens home and drive the family car and sleep in the bed of the deceased. That is MY opinion and always will be.

But Cindy is innocent of the crime she was accused of.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by fairlaw

I'm happy that you are not one of the real stupid people who still insist that somehow/someway/by some magical method, she killed him.

However, I think I disagree with your position that she didn't love him much. We have all heard her 911 call. To me she sounded like a loving wife who was trying desperately to save her husband.

San Diego County owes Cynthia a LOT of money, does anyone know if her atty is working on that?

There is no foundation for proclaiming her guilty at this point. I think many, just like myself, were so awe-struck that a person with four children could do the things she did in the months following Todds' death, that it was easy to jump on the guilty bandwagon.
I have since arrived at the conclusion that my idea of the role model a parent should play in the event of a tragedy, and others ideas are vastly different.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by LisaM22

yep, some said she was guilty because she stopped off for a pack of smokes on the way to the hospital....

I will admit that really got under my skin.

In a time of crisis, I am the type of person that thinks of everyone around me, and not of myself.

Cindy is obviously the type that can respond to the crisis, but also make sure she receives the comforts necessary for herself.

I don't understand it, but it is what it is.....

[LisaM22]

Originally Posted by Dogmatic

I will admit that really got under my skin.

In a time of crisis, I am the type of person that thinks of everyone around me, and not of myself.

Cindy is obviously the type that can respond to the crisis, but also make sure she receives the comforts necessary for herself.

I don't understand it, but it is what it is.....

she was thinking ahead, she was planning on a long stay, that seems completely normal to me

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by LisaM22

she was thinking ahead, she was planning on a long stay, that seems completely normal to me

I know. I understand. It's not normal to me, but it is to many. I learned that. I'm still amazed.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Pia

What is good about that though is you are willing to look at it differently now. If only the prosecutor/DA would...

Laura Gunn is a disgrace. She has no choice but to admit her mistake, and let Cindy move on.

IMO, if she can't prove right this minute that Todd was poisoned, (which we know he was not), she needs to drop it and admit failure.

[Narcissist71]

Originally Posted by ~FallenAngel

too selfish to be a good mother? most of the insurance she put into a trust fund for her children to go to college. i didn't hear anyone ever say she was a bad mother. She got her children back and she works two jobs to take care of them.

I remember plenty of posts calling her a bad mother.....IIRC there was an incident or something in Florida with Children Services or something.....again this is just my recollection. There were those that claimed she was a sociopath and only cared about herself. Also claims that she was only after the money.

Same classic theme on these boards. Some posters have the ability to diagnose anyone and everyone a sociopath and/or pyschopath with a few statements or actions. It's absurd and a bit disgusting to be quite honest, especially when they have to twist what really occurred like the money situation when she did in fact put a large portion of it in a trust for the children, paid off her in-laws for a vehicle, paid other bills that both her and her husband had accumulated during their marriage.

Example of some things that were posted.

She was faking the 911 call, she didn't act right, she was a liar......of course there was no evidence to support her poisoning her husband. The only "evidence" was that created by posters and the prosecution who put their own "spin" on those things I mentioned above.

Sorry for the rant, sorry if my post is a bit discombobulated.

[darwin]

Originally Posted by Narcissist71

It's absurd and a bit disgusting to be quite honest, especially when they have to twist what really occurred like the money situation when she did in fact put a large portion of it in a trust for the children,

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2407685.shtml

Cynthia Sommer's in-laws testified that she objected when they asked her to put her husband's $250,000 death benefit in trust for herself, their baby and her three children from a previous marriage.

It was Todd Sommer's family who INSISTED, over CS's OBJECTIONS, that a portion of the death benefit MUST BE put in trust NOT ONLY for Todd's biological child but MUST ALSO include her other children.

That doesn't make her a murderer. I just wanted to clarify the facts as to the trust.

--darwin

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Narcissist71

I remember plenty of posts calling her a bad mother.....IIRC there was an incident or something in Florida with Children Services or something.....again this is just my recollection. There were those that claimed she was a sociopath and only cared about herself. Also claims that she was only after the money.

Same classic theme on these boards. Some posters have the ability to diagnose anyone and everyone a sociopath and/or pyschopath with a few statements or actions. It's absurd and a bit disgusting to be quite honest, especially when they have to twist what really occurred like the money situation when she did in fact put a large portion of it in a trust for the children, paid off her in-laws for a vehicle, paid other bills that both her and her husband had accumulated during their marriage.

Example of some things that were posted.

She was faking the 911 call, she didn't act right, she was a liar......of course there was no evidence to support her poisoning her husband. The only "evidence" was that created by posters and the prosecution who put their own "spin" on those things I mentioned above.

Sorry for the rant, sorry if my post is a bit discombobulated.

For me anyway, they are two very different issues. You see, I used to think she poisoned her husband, was selfish, and was not a very good mother. ( I base my opinion of her mothering skills on some of the items she spent her money on when she was facing life alone with four children, her bringing a man immediately into the family home, Todds bed and letting him drive Todds car, and her conviction and/or guilty plea to child neglect charges.)

I now know she is not guilty of poisoning her husband.

However, my opinion of her mothering skills has not changed, and never will.

[Narcissist71]

Originally Posted by darwin

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2407685.shtml



It was Todd Sommer's family who INSISTED, over CS's OBJECTIONS, that a portion of the death benefit MUST BE put in trust NOT ONLY for Todd's biological child but MUST ALSO include her other children.

That doesn't make her a murderer. I just wanted to clarify the facts as to the trust.

--darwin

They can insist all they want. They were not in control of the money. She chose to do it (PERIOD). I question the testimony anyway when the family was brainwashed into thinking their son was poisoned in the first place.

Just to clear that up. She didn't have to do anything anyone insisted she do with the money. If it was all about the money she wouldn't have chose to do what maybe the family might have mentioned that she should do with the money.

[Narcissist71]

Originally Posted by randyw

She chose to do it. She could have told his family to mind their own business. She was quite able to stick up for herself, eg. when she told her MIL "you grieve your way and I'll grieve mine". The death benefit was hers to do with as she saw fit. It was a good thing though; she wasn't very good with money, was she? MOO

Didn't appear that either Todd or Cindy were the best with money....at least that is my opinion.

ETA....But I don't think they were any worse off than many people out there, to be honest.

[awareness]

JMO that Cindy's had some issues over the years, before her arrest - I mean CPS was called while she was in FL and all. She probably needed parenting class... and also HELP seeing the Dad of her older children wasnt paying child support (IIRC). But I still feel she loved her kids and certainly at this point is at a better place maturity-wise to look after them.

The old board/folder was crazy. IIRC someone claming to be Ross' (ex boyfriend) Dad came in and posted for a little while. He kept saying Cindy had said things during a holiday dinner that didnt sound right, or alluded to knowing other things about Cindy that made her charachter seem dark. But he never came out and said exactly what things he knew, so it was all hearsey - and that's providing it was actually Ross' Dad.

You used to be able to find Cindy's posts on that old car (Honda?) message board, and posts regarding her arrest & trial, but dont know where you'd find that at this point.

I never thought she was guilty. Even after she was found guilty, it just didnt "fit" for me. I donated money to her cause before it was "popular" with public opinion that she was innocent. Im just glad she's out now and hopefully she'll be COMPENSATED from SAN DIEGO and be able to get on with her life.

All of the above is JMO/IMO.

[Narcissist71]

Originally Posted by awareness

JMO that Cindy's had some issues over the years, before her arrest - I mean CPS was called while she was in FL and all. She probably needed parenting class... and also HELP seeing the Dad of her older children wasnt paying child support (IIRC). But I still feel she loved her kids and certainly at this point is at a better place maturity-wise to look after them.

The old board/folder was crazy. IIRC someone claming to be Ross' (ex boyfriend) Dad came in and posted for a little while. He kept saying Cindy had said things during a holiday dinner that didnt sound right, or alluded to knowing other things about Cindy that made her charachter seem dark. But he never came out and said exactly what things he knew, so it was all hearsey - and that's providing it was actually Ross' Dad.

You used to be able to find Cindy's posts on that old car (Honda?) message board, and posts regarding her arrest & trial, but dont know where you'd find that at this point.

I never thought she was guilty. Even after she was found guilty, it just didnt "fit" for me. I donated money to her cause before it was "popular" with public opinion that she was innocent. Im just glad she's out now and hopefully she'll be COMPENSATED from SAN DIEGO and be able to get on with her life.

All of the above is JMO/IMO.

Just a question......wasn't the CPS called after the death of Todd? There was no evidence that before Todd's death that she was a bad mother. (At least to my knowledge)

I know that people will argue that it doesn't matter if it was after his death, but I think it does have to be look at in context to after his death.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Narcissist71

Just a question......wasn't the CPS called after the death of Todd? There was no evidence that before Todd's death that she was a bad mother. (At least to my knowledge)

I know that people will argue that it doesn't matter if it was after his death, but I think it does have to be look at in context to after his death.

She was convicted and/or plead guilty to child neglect, I believe while she lived in Florida.
It was established as a fact and is of record.

[Narcissist71]

Originally Posted by Dogmatic

She was convicted and/or plead guilty to child neglect, I believe while she lived in Florida.
It was established as a fact and is of record.

Yes, again....

after Todd's death.....isn't that correct?

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Narcissist71

Yes, again....

after Todd's death.....isn't that correct?

No. before her marriage to Todd

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Pia

Yes but this was after Todd's death. I think that is what Narcissist71 was asking.
She did everything they told her to do and had regained custody of all of the children back. She just didn't have the two middle boys with her yet when she was arrested. The baby and her daughter were both back with her at that time.

There was testimony of an incident in North Carolina while Todd was out on the ship. He had to come home. It wasn’t so bad that they took the kids. Just more proof that Cindy was fine when she had Todd but overwhelmed when he wasn’t there. I am not making excuses for her but I can understand what she was probably going through.

Then I apologize. My memory failed me.

It was my understanding that a boyfriend turned her in for child neglect BEFORE she married Todd.

My bad.

In any event, her stability as a parent seems questionable to me. For the childrens sake, I hope she has changed.

[Dogmatic]

Originally Posted by Pia

No problem. Yes this was after Todd died. It was Ross who supposedly turned her in...Not sure of the details of all that though.

When it was, as understandable as it might be, is of little consequence to me. My sympathy always goes out to the children that are helpless to provide for themselves and seek comfort in ways that adults do.

(I think you are right. I think it was Ross that turned her in because there was nothing in the house for the kids to eat or drink except beer.)