Michelle Lodzinski: NJ court tosses conviction of mom accused of killing young son in 1991
The New Jersey State Supreme Court on December 28 decided to grant Michelle Lodzinski some late Christmas cheer, by tossing out the conviction from a 2016 case. The court ruled 4-3 that she was free after a jury found her guilty in the death of her son Timothy Wiltsey. The case, dating back to 1991, is one of the state's longest-running cold cases, and also one of the most contentious.
Lodzinski was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2016 after the jury found her guilty of killing Wiltsey, but she repeatedly appealed that verdict. After several attempts, the State Supreme Court has now sided with her, meaning she cannot be tried again. Wiltsey went missing in 1991, and his body discovered a year later. However, Lodzinski was never formally charged until 2014, by which time she left the state and was living in Florida.
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The case seemed like a slam dunk for prosecutors, espeically after the conviction was upheld by an appeals court in 2019, and by the State Supreme Court in May 2021. But something changed in December 2021, when the top court was forced to have another look after conceding to a "procedural error" by ruling on an appellate court decision that had applied "an incorrect legal standard."
'No testimony or evidence was offered'
The reason for the u-turn, the court conceded was that prosecutors failed to provide enough evidence to show Lodzinski purposfully caused her son's death. "No reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski purposefully or knowingly caused Timothy’s death," the court wrote in its decision. The majorty went on to note, "Even if the evidence suggested that Timothy did not die by accident, no testimony or evidence was offered to distinguish whether Timothy died by the negligent, reckless, or purposeful or knowing acts of a person, even if that person were Lodzinski."
The prosecution hinged its case on a blue blanket found with Wiltsey body. The child's former baby sitters positively identified the blanket as coming from Lodzinski's home, which prosecutors called a "smoking gun". "She dumped his body in a creek like a piece of trash, but she left behind a telling clue, this blanket. No other killer could get this," declared Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua during the trial.
Lodzinski's attorney's argued that no forensic evidence tied the blanket to the mom, but at the time the jury didn't buy the argument. Now however, the court agrees that the blanket by itself was not enough to convict Lodzinski. Hours after the verdict, the mom was released from prison, where she had spent the last seven years. "I’m grateful for all the people who helped me and stood by my side to get me home to my family and friends," she told the media after her release.
Lodzinski now plans to return to Port St. Lucie in Florida, where she lived before being arrested. The 54-year-old currently has two sons in the town, but while she may be happy to return home, not everyone is sold on the verdict. The three dissenting judges wrote, "today’s decision undermines the core principle of appellate deference to a jury verdict in a criminal trial and undermines the jury’s role at the heart of our criminal justice system."