For release on September 30, 2014
CONTACT:
Marc Buller, Assistant District Attorney
(408) 792-2770
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has moved to dismiss the 1989 cold case homicide of Cathy Zimmer filed earlier this year against her husband and his brother.
The Office is re-evaluating the case after learning that the prosecutor originally assigned to the case had an undisclosed and improper relationship with the case’s criminalist, and that the prosecutor failed to provide evidence to the defense in a timely fashion.
Stated District Attorney Jeff Rosen: “We have an absolute and ethical duty to enforce the laws in a just and objective manner and without regard to sympathy, bias or prejudice for or against any particular party. We offer our deepest apologies to the family of the victim, but based on the totality of the circumstances, we simply cannot proceed without taking the time to reexamine and reevaluate the case in order to ensure we have not violated the rights of the accused, nor compromised the integrity of the criminal justice system.”
David Zimmer, the victim’s husband, is out of custody. The District Attorney’s Office has moved to immediately release Robert Zimmer, his brother, from custody.
Prosecutors will now reassess the case. Felony cases that have not gone before a jury may be dismissed and re-filed.
On March 10, 1989, the body of Ms. Zimmer, the 38-year-old mother of two teens, was found in her car.
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