VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A Van Buren County woman previously sentenced to life in prison may be seeing a second trial.
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 earlier this month. MLive reports that the case could go one of three ways – it will either be appealed by the Attorney General’s Office, thrown out altogether, or retried in Van Buren County Circuit Court.
If it goes to court again, the case will 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.
Should the case go to trial again, 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. A decision on how the case will proceed has not been made at this time.
