The attorney representing Rocky Dodson who was charged in Boone County Circuit Court with killing his wife is pushing to have a hearing on his objection to the state’s request to allow Dodson’s case to be dismissed in a way that would allow charges to be refiled.
The 53-year-old Dodson, a former high school principal and head basketball coach at Omaha, was accused of killing his then 36-year-old wife, Amanda.
14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge announced May 17 that the state would not be pursuing the case at this time but did want to be able to refile it if circumstances changed.
Ethredge said the decision not to pursue the case came because there had been a major shift in the confidence level pertaining to some information gathered during the investigation.
Defense attorney Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville filed the objection to the state’s request the same day the prosecutor made his announcement.
Wilkinson’s motion argued that if Dodson had been put on trial, he would be entitled to a directed verdict since the state could not prove “that a murder even took place.”
Wilkinson contends there is no “good cause” to permit the Dodson case to be dismissed in a way that would allow it to be refiled at some point in the future. The defense attorney wanted the court to order an unconditional dismissal – meaning Dodson would not face the charges again.
Wilkinson filed another motion June 27 urging that a hearing be set on his original motion.
In the new filing, Wilkinson warns he will submit a motion for a speedy trial dismissal even before the hearing is held.
Wilkinson asks the court to “set this matter for a prompt hearing to avoid continued prejudice of an innocent man.” Ethredge said that several dates for the hearing have been submitted to the judge handling the case, “and the hearing will be set once the judge lets us know which date works best for him.” The case his being heard by Judge William Wright on assignment from the Arkansas Supreme Court.
The defense has contended it is more likely Amanda Dodson fell causing her injuries. Testing at the State Medical Examiner’s office showed her blood alcohol content to be almost 0.470 percent.
At the time the dismissal was announced, Ethredge said recent discussions with the Medical Examiner’s staff and others involved in the case caused prosecutors to be much less confident as to what led to Amanda Dodson’s death when compared to information provided in the early stages of the investigation.
Wilkinson accused prosecutors of trying to avoid a directed verdict, a not guilty finding by a jury or dismissal on speedy trial grounds by being allowed to refile the case.
He argued the state should not be granted an indefinite delay “just because prosecutors acknowledge they cannot ethically go forward with the case” as currently constituted.
The defense attorney wrote it is “not fair to allow the state to wait for evidence to magically appear. The state has had two years to find evidence that Rocky Dodson killed his wife and has failed to do so.”
Wilkinson contends the delay would deny his client “the satisfaction of being able to go and live his life as a free man without this nightmare of a case looming in the background.”
The defense attorney said the state must have “good cause” to be granted the ability to dismiss the case now and refile it if circumstances change.
The state contends that there is good cause — claiming that Dr. Christy Cunningham, the Medical Examiner handling the autopsy of Amanda Dodson, became less confident in her earlier verbal comments to prosecutors and investigators that Amanda Dodson’s death could not have been an accident.
Cunningham would have been a key witness for the state.
Wilkinson said the “loss of confidence” contention by the state was not supported by the history of the case. He wrote “the unchangeable fact is that since May 12, 2022, Dr. Cunningham’s written opinion has been that Amanda Dodson’s cause of death was undetermined.”
The state contends that when Dr. Cunningham became less certain about the “no way it could have been an accident” statements they allege she made, prosecutors were forced to take another hard look at the case.
A number of outside experts, some hired by the defense, studied the autopsy and they are said to support the finding of “undetermined” as to the cause of death.
One of the experts hired by the defense to review the autopsy report, commented, “there is no way to say with a reasonable degree of probability — much less certainty — that Mrs. Dodson’s death resulted from the act of another person.”
In filings with the court, Wilkinson alleges that the claim that Dr. Cunningham “changed her mind” as to the manner of death “is patently inconsistent” with what Dr. Cunningham told him about the nature of her conversations with investigators and the prosecutor’s office.
MURDER REPORTED
Boone County sheriff’s deputies were called to the Dodson residence along Stonegate Drive in Omaha 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 EXAMINERS’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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