A San Diego Superior Court judge Friday wiped out the two-decade-old murder conviction of former Valley Center executive Jane Dorotik after prosecutors conceded new DNA evidence cast enough doubt on a conviction, one they had zealously guarded, to warrant a new trial.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Harry Elias is not a clear exoneration of Dorotik, who has insisted she did not kill her husband, Robert, in February 2000. She could still face another trial, a possibility that will be discussed at a hearing set for Oct. 23.
Steve Walker, director of communications for San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan, said prosecutors want to conduct DNA testing, and retesting, on evidence in the case. The outcome of those tests will likely weigh into a final decision on a new trial.
A team of lawyers from the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent, who have worked on Dorotik’s case for years, argued in a detailed court filing that DNA testing using new techniques shows that her DNA was not on crucial evidence in the case: her husband’s clothing, DNA from a rope he was strangled with and scrapings from beneath his fingernails.
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