VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A Van Buren County woman previously sentenced to life in prison will be seeing a second trial, MLive confirmed Wednesday.
Previously, Linda Stermer was convicted for the murder of her husband in a 2007 house fire, later running him over with a van. She was sentenced to life in prison as a result.
However, Stermer was released in late 2018 after a Federal Judge ruled that she did not get a fair trial, citing errors with the prosecution.
In April 2019, the case was appealed by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, and the decision for a new trial was granted last month.
It was previously reported that if the case were to be opened again, it could either be appealed by the Attorney General’s Office, thrown out altogether, or retried in Van Buren County Circuit Court.
The case will now be overseen by Van Buren County Prosecutor Michael Bedford, who says that the case cannot be dismissed. Bedford was present in court when the original case was being tried.
There is the possibility it will end with an acquittal for Stermer. Officials add that the decision to uphold an appeal was due in part to misrepresentation by Stermer’s legal official at the time, Jeff Getting, who has since become the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor.
The decision found that Stermer was not given due process at the time of the original trial, and that her testimony was misstated.
This is an ongoing case and will be updated as more information becomes available.
