It will be several months before Cynthia Sommer finds out whether murder charges against her will be permanently dismissed. A hearing was set Friday, for May of next year.
Cynthia Sommer spent nearly two and a half years behind bars until new evidence was presented. Sommer's murder case became quite a sensation, with testimony about her paying for breast implants with proceeds from her late husband's life insurance policy then indulging in party-girl behavior, and sex with several men.
But the prosecution's evidence ultimately fell apart after Sommer was found guilty. "Well, I never lost any hope or my faith or anything. You never really can give up when you're innocent," Sommer said on the morning after she was released from custody on the basis of new evidence.
Tissue samples showed no traces of arsenic in the liver and kidneys of her late husband, Todd, who prosecutors claimed was poisoned by Sommer so she could cash in his $250,000 life insurance policy.
Sommer's lawyer now wants the case dismissed "with prejudice" -- meaning she could never be retried for murder.
