Tennis Referee Cleared in Hubby’s Coffee Mug Slay
A Los Angeles judge dismissed murder charges on Friday against a 70-year-old tennis lineswoman who was accused of beating her husband to death with a coffee mug, and arrested in August as she prepared to officiate at the U.S. Open.
The dismissal was granted following a request from prosecutors who said they were unable to proceed with the case against Lois Goodman. A Los Angeles County District Attorney’s spokeswoman said in a terse statement only that “additional information” had come forward.
“Based upon this information, we announced that we are unable to proceed with the case at this time. The court granted our request to dismiss the case without prejudice,” spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.
“Because there is an ongoing police and district attorney’s investigation, we will not make any further statements that might compromise that investigation,” she said.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Jessica Silvers to dismiss the case without prejudice means that charges could be re-filed against Goodman in the future.
“I’m so happy,” Goodman told reporters outside court. “I feel wonderful. I’ve always maintained my innocence. It was just a tragic accident.”
Goodman, who faced a maximum sentence of life in prison if she had been convicted at trial, said prosecutors had done the “right thing” in dropping the case.
Goodman is well known in tennis circles and had worked at the annual U.S. Open Tennis Championships tournament for at least the past 10 years, mainly as a line judge, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.
According to police, Goodman reported on April 17 that she had found her 80-year-old husband Alan Goodman dead in their home and concluded that he had suffered a heart attack and fallen down a flight of stairs.
But the death was ruled a homicide in August and Lois Goodman was charged with murder. She was arrested in New York City, where she had traveled to help officiate the U.S. Open.
Police said at the time that a search for evidence in the home turned up a broken coffee mug that roughly matched lacerations and contusions on Alan Goodman’s head.
Defense lawyers contend that Alan Goodman’s death was an accident, a conclusion they say was originally reached by Los Angeles police detectives.
They also say that their client has passed a polygraph or “lie detector” test and that her DNA was not found on the mug, supporting their theory that Alan Goodman had been carrying a cup of coffee when he fell down the stairs.
Prosecutors have declined to comment on the lie-detector test, which was arranged by defense attorneys, or on the lack of DNA evidence.
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