Cynthia Sommer has gone home now
OBSERVER (mugbug)
By JOHN VAN DOORN | ∞
When the criminal justice system goes haywire, as it often does, innocent people head off to prison and typically are not heard from again.
If evidence later turns up that would clear them, good luck.
The reason is that like all systems in any way connected to government, the justice system is not one that willingly concedes error. It will fight tooth and nail those crusaders bent on overturning verdicts.
Yet sometimes the system has to back down. Faced with new evidence, or more sober attention to the old, it is forced to say, "We may have been wrong," or words ---- begrudging and reluctant ---- to that effect. It watches as the wrongly convicted walk free.
Such is the case with Cynthia Sommer. She walked free last week in San Diego after two years and four months in prison for the murder of her husband, a Marine sergeant named Todd Sommer.
The "evidence" against Sommer was that her husband's body was "laced" with arsenic. Recent new tests of the body showed that not to be the case; indeed, there may have been no arsenic at all.
A new expert said he found the initial results "very puzzling" and "physiologically improbable."
But there was poison in the trial.
The prosecution poisoned the jury with lurid "proof" of Cynthia Sommer's guilt --- that she hadn't acted the way she was supposed to after her husband's death.
Observer wrote in February 2007: "She didn't don widow's garb and sit weeping in the dark. She didn't keep quiet. She didn't keep a sad face on. In general, she didn't seem to suffer enough.
"Instead, she got breast implants, threw some loud parties, had sex often, and in other ways spent a good chunk of the $250,000 she got from her husband's insurance policy."
Observer's point was: So what?
The jury found this ludicrous argument persuasive ---- ignoring the arsenic "evidence" that most courthouse observers believed to be weak and unconvincing ---- and convicted Sommer.
She sat in prison until it was disclosed that the arsenic evidence was spurious ---- apparently there was no arsenic ---- and she was freed.
Sadly, many voices at the time ---- when hatred was in bloom ---- cheered that early verdict. They called Sommer names and scorned her for not grieving properly as, well, as they were apparently taught to.
Sommer has not "beaten" the system. That would imply that she outsmarted it. She did nothing of the kind.
Instead, the system righted itself for a moment in spite of official rigidity, smugness and ego that somehow ooze their ways into the crevices and gears of the justice system at every level, linger and infect it.
Wish Sommer peace.
[Note: "Gestures" is a recent addition to the Observer column ---- small stories of little things that may mean a lot.]
Gestures
They stood beside their creations, and did what they could to explain them.
One of the artists talked informally about a model of a kite sculpture he is building from metal. His finished work will be displayed in Vista ---- as will the work of other artists ---- a soaring kite and scrambling youngsters.
As he talked, he touched the hand of one of his metal children. He didn't seem to notice.
The other artist stood recently by a sculpture of his in Old Poway Park and spoke of the news that his work would be shown in New York City.
He held the hand of his pioneer woman as he spoke, though he seemed not to notice.
Not to read too much into them, but these gestures were stunning. Why? What to learn? That the works were their children? Their own childhood? Their fantasies? That a man cannot bear to let go of ---- what? Self? That he can't believe he did it? That it's only made real by touching?
It's an iffy business, artists explaining art. First, they're not sure exactly how their crafts got such a fancy name.
Second, they fear sounding pretentious. Then there's the danger of talking away all the mystery. Of snuffing out a spark.
Touching hands with their metal people seemed so natural to these men. It was as if creation and creator each gave life to the other. I don't know how.
Each gesture was so infinitely gentle that it will be talked about for years. I'll bet the sculptures will remember, too.
Contact columnist John Van Doorn at (760)739-6647 or jvandoorn@nctimes.com.
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Billy wrote on Apr 24, 2008 8:28 AM: I have much faith in juries. I have served on six Superior Court juries since 1980. Seldom do they make mistakes, but yet mistakes are made. Usually the mistakes are made by the court or the officers of the court. One such case is: We were being called one at a time during the picking of the jury in a drug case. The prosecutor asked a man if he had reason to dislike the police. etc. The man said that he did have and explained that his son had been mistreated by the police during a drug bust. He said that he could never decide in favor of the police in any case regardless of the circumstances. The prosecutor asked him if he could be trusted to find the defendant guilty if the evidence showed that he was guilty. The man said no, that he could not do that. the Prosecutor turned the man over to the Judge who asked him the same questions and the man repeated his answers as before. The judge stated, "Well, I think when it comes down to it you will do your duty." And the man was accepted as a juror. After hearing the case the man hung the jury with 11 to 1 decision. After we were dismissed the prosecution was waiting outside on the sidewalk and ask me what happened. My reply was, "You have got to be kidding? Why have you wasted my time?" I know that if we are looking for perfection we must look to our Creator, we will not find it here on earth, and it is the same in court rooms. Yet we are highly critical of the professionals in our court systems and expect perfection from them. And, if there is any place on earth that perfection could be expected it would be in our court systems; however, the final call is one of judgement. And we rely heavily in our court system on so called experts. And there is where mistakes abound, including cases concerning arsenic.
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