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November 1, 2009 Trial attorney for Marine widow disbarred in FloridaPosted: 05:40 PM ET
WATERLOO, Iowa – The Florida attorney who defended Cynthia Sommer in 2007 against murder charges that she poisoned her Marine husband in San Diego was disbarred last Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. His disbarment is unrelated to Sommer’s case.
Cynthia Sommer
Robert Udell, who is licensed in California as well, was initially hired by Sommer in Florida. She was arrested in November 2005 in Florida where she had moved with her four children after her husband’s death in 2002. Her January 2007 murder trial ended in a conviction of first-degree murder. She was facing life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sommer then hired a new attorney, Allen Bloom, to fight for her life. The trial judge, Peter Deddah, ordered a hearing on Bloom’s motion for a new trial. In late 2007, Udell testified at that hearing and admitted that he erred at the trial by “opening the door” to Sommer’s conduct which the judge had previously ruled inadmissible. That conduct in the months after her husband’s death included spending a small portion of her husband’s life insurance money on breast implants, dating Marines on the base, and participating in a wet tee shirt contest in Mexico. Udell opened the door to the admission of that evidence when he elicited testimony from a friend of Sommer’s that she was a grieving widow and wasn’t receiving appropriate support from the Department of Navy. Judge Deddah ordered a new trial on the grounds that Sommer received ineffective assistance of counsel by Udell. Months later and before a new trial was held, she was freed when the District Attorney tested additional tissues from her husband that were subsequently found to be arsenic-free. Those test results cast doubt on the source of the original laboratory findings of toxic levels of arsenic in other tissue samples. Sommer has always maintained her innocence. Udell was disbarred from the practice of law in Florida for cases he handled in that state, not for his representation of Sommer. The allegations were that he improperly handled legal fees between 2004 and 2008. He reportedly voluntarily agreed to the disbarment without admitting any wrongdoing. Beth Karas, In Session correspondent Filed under: Trial Updates |
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