Donna somerville murder trial

During the criminal trial, the defense painted Hamilton Somerville as abusing painkillers and his death an accidental overdose, Singer said. But in arguing the wrongful-death lawsuit, Singer said new data from the testing lab indicated that hair could be contaminated with drugs from outside sources, which would give incorrect results.

In a criminal case, guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In a wrongful-death civil suit, the preponderance of evidence must point to guilt. Keith C. Cuthrell Jr. Athos but the daughters filed to prevent that until the civil case was settled. In addition to practicing law, Singer is a preacher and an author of legal thrillers.

He said there is balance between preaching forgiveness and seeking damages in court. A Dedicated Legal Team. The Mt. The prosecution declared it would offer evidence of a financial motive for Ham Somerville's death: His widow would get more money through inheritance than as a divorcee accused of adultery. Witnesses were called to support that claim, but Bouton ruled against much of that testimony being admitted.

The defense, meanwhile, was able to show that Ham Somerville's will left everything to his wife and that he had put both the historic acre Mount Athos property and his investment account with Merrill Lynch in joint ownership. The defense will begin presenting its case today. Testimony is expected to be finished by Tuesday, and Bouton is expected to deliver a verdict before the end of next week.

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