KNOXVILLE, Iowa - Lawyers for a man accused of killing his own mother and found guilty of wrongful death in a civil lawsuit in her death, claim evidence suggests someone else killed Shirley Carter.
Jason Carter was slapped with a $10 million judgement in the civil case his father, Bill Carter, brought against him last year and now he’s facing a first-degree murder charge.
Evidence presented during the civil trial was enough for police to arrest him for the 2015 death of his mother.
His attorneys say if some information had been available at the time of the civil trial, the outcome would have been different.
“So it`s not just an issue of what the evidence is in itself, but also how did plaintiff`s failure to disclose that information prejudice defendant, and affect the approach that he took at the trial last year,” said Jason Carter’s attorney,” Alison Kanne.
Attorneys for Shirley’s estate say that “evidence” is just hearsay and would not be admissible in court.
“Today, and for decades, the law is and has been that they have to have admissible evidence that had this jury heard it would probably cause this case to have come out the opposite way,” said Mark Weinhardt, attorney for Bill and Billy Carter.
If the judge agrees that the new evidence would have changed the outcome, she can vacate the judgment or order a new civil trial.
The court will convene again Tuesday in Marion County.
Jason Carter’s murder trial has not yet been scheduled but will be held outside of Marion County due to pre-trial publicity.