Nearly two months after the murder charge against former Omaha High School principal and boys’ basketball coach Rocky Dodson was dismissed by the prosecution, the special judge assigned to the case granted them the opportunity to refile the charges later if more evidence comes to light. In a ruling released Monday, Judge William Wright issued an order of “nolo prosequi” following the dismissal of the second-degree murder charge against the 54-year-old Dodson in the death of his wife, then 36-year-old Amanda Dodson.
Dodson’s attorney, Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville, had filed a motion last month to prevent the office of 14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge from refiling the charge at a later date. Wilkinson wrote the prosecution couldn’t demonstrate “good cause” to resume the case, but Judge Wright disagreed in his ruling.
The defense has contended it is more likely Amanda Dodson fell causing her injuries. Testing at the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office in Little Rock showed her blood alcohol content to be almost 0.470 percent.
At the time the dismissal was announced on May 17, Ethredge said recent discussions with the Medical Examiner’s staff and others involved in the case caused prosecutors to be much less confidence as to what led to Amanda Dodson’s death when compared to information provided in the early stages of the investigation.
MURDER REPORTED
Boone County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Dodson residence along Stonegate Drive in Omaha on March 6, 2022, and discovered Amanda Dodson’s body on the living room floor.
Amanda Christine Dodson was born in Mountain Home and held jobs in the Omaha and Cotter school districts.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the woman’s body “displayed severe bruising on the legs, arms and areas of the upper torso.”
Rocky Dodson contacted 911. He claimed he discovered his wife deceased when he woke up about 9 a.m.
He told investigators his wife had returned home in the early morning hours of March 6. He said he had let her into the house, put her on a couch and gone to the couple’s bedroom.
In the probable cause affidavit, Rocky Dodson paints an unflattering picture of his wife – telling investigators she was a chronic alcoholic, among other things.
He did admit that he was the only one in the house with his wife at the time of her death. In a summary of the evidence, an investigator opined that, “Rocky Dodson was the only person present who had the ability to inflict the blow on Amanda Dodson that caused her death.”
Wilkinson contends that statement showed the investigation quickly focused on murder and apparently disregarded any other possibility such as an accidental fall.
MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT
The woman’s body was sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office. The doctor who conducted the autopsy initially reported she had “found external bruising and hemorrhaging at the front of the neck, severe edema (swelling) completely through the neck muscles in the area of the Adam’s apple as well as fractured, broken and crushed tracheal cartilage.”
The doctor in charge of the case at the Medical Examiner’s Office said in her opinion the blow to the neck would have immediately caused the victim what was described as “severe distress.”
She said the injuries would have led the victim to have significant breathing problems due to a reduction in the intake of oxygen.
In addition, the injuries would have “caused the victim to wheeze, cough or gurgle.”
The doctor said anyone present at the scene should have been aware that the victim was in serious distress, but Rocky Dodson did not mention to investigator that he had noted his wife in any distress.
The doctor said, in her professional opinion, the injuries suffered by Amanda Dodson resulted from “blunt force” trauma and listed the cause as undetermined.
The toxicology report showed Amanda Dodson had a blood alcohol level of .468 at the time of her death. A level that could be lethal to many people.
According to the defense attorney, Dr. Cunningham told him that her notes did not show that anyone in law enforcement asked her about her final written report which was completed after the toxicology results were received and which showed the cause of death as undetermined.
Wilkinson asserts that after the physical examination of Amanda Dodson’s body, “Dr. Cunningham did not tell law enforcement that the injuries had to be the result of a homicide.” He said her initial report listed the injuries to Amanda Dodson’s body but no cause of death determination was listed beyond it being undetermined and that the report remained unchanged.
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