BEAUMONT, Texas — The retrial of a woman who was found guilty in 2019 of conspiring to have her husband killed has been dismissed the day that it was to begin.
The jury for the retrial of Kelly Sue Daws had been selected and sworn in Tuesday morning in Jefferson County's Drug Impact Court before Judge Buddie Hahn.
The dismissal by the state was due to evidence being suppressed according to Daws’ defense attorney Ryan Gertz.
The criminal solicitation case is still pending according to Gertz.
Judge Hahn had ruled Tuesday not to allow the state to use a video of a two-and-a-half-hour interview police had with Daws because she had not been read her Miranda rights prior to talking to them.
Prosecutors on Wednesday asked for clarification from Judge Hahn and asked, if the officer who questioned Daws testified, would they then be able to use the video.
Hahn told prosecutors he would still not allow the video and said that the officer would not be allowed to testify about questioning Daws.
Judge Hahn noted that police had two-and-a-half hours to speak to Daws and during that time and a later time no one ever read her Miranda rights to her.
Prosecutors countered that Daws had come in voluntarily, gave a complete statement and never expressed that she felt she was not allowed to leave.
It was only after all this that she was actually arrested prosecutors said.
“It’s kinda criminal law 101 that when you start to talk to a witness you give them their Miranda warnings because if you don’t then what they say might not be admitted.”
Once it was clear the judge would not budge on his ruling the state moved to dismiss.
"We are vert grateful for the Judge's ruling and state's decision to dismiss the case. Our trial team worked hard to provide the best defense that we can and we are grateful for the result," Gertz told 12News.
Kelly Sue Daws' ex-husband, former Port Arthur Police Officer Jerry Daws, was stabbed on December 22, 2016, while he was off duty, according to file stories. Jerry Daws was in his apartment at the Willow Lakes Apartment in Port Arthur when he was stabbed.
Kelly Daws was found guilty of conspiring to kill Jerry Daws in late March of 2019.
She filed a motion for a new trial with new attorneys and was granted one because of ineffective counsel during her first trial, according to file stories.
Daws' first trial council at the time of this trial was Beaumont attorney Glen Crocker.
After she was found guilty in 2019 David Barlow was appointed as her temporary counsel and filed a notice of appeal.
Daws then retained Cory Crenshaw, Jamie Matuska and Ryan Gertz, who are now her trial court counsel.
Her new legal team instead of continuing with the appeal then filed a motion for a new trial based on their assertion that she had received ineffective counsel during her first trial in 2019.
Daws was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison, but the sentence was overturned after the motion for a new trial was filed. Daws' previous retrial date was set for June 7, 2019.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.