BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The trial for a West Melbourne mother accused of murder in the death of her toddler will have to start over after the judge declared a mistrial Tuesday.
Erica Dotson is accused of murder in the 2021 death of her 3-year-old son, Jameson Nance. Police said the boy was beaten to death by Dotson’s boyfriend, Josh Manns. They say Dotson was aware of the abuse, did nothing to stop it and claimed instead that her son drowned in the bathtub.
Assistant state attorney Sam Barrett addressed the jury during opening statements on Aug. 27.
[VIDEO: Watch previous coverage of murder trial]
“Many people failed Jameson Nance, but no one failed him so profoundly as the one person whose job it was to keep him safe from harm - his own mother, this defendant, Erica Dotson,” she said.
Manns’ is facing his own trial in the case.
Opening statements began in Dotson’s trial on Aug. 27.
Dotson testified Monday and contradicted the state’s argument by saying she didn’t know what her boyfriend was doing to her son when he babysat the boy while Dotson was working.
“She loved her son, Jameson,” defense attorney Ken Hamburg said during opening statements. “In fact, the day that he passed away, there’s discussion in the text message about how they saved money to go to Universal, and they’re hoping they’re gonna go to Universal in July shortly after his birthday.”
But on Tuesday, Judge Steve Henderson said that prosecutors had had a conversation or “proffer” with Manns that they failed to disclose to Dotson’s attorneys.
”Rule 3.220, ‘Discovery,’ is black and white. Says subsection B, ‘Prosecutor’s Discovery Obligation,’ and then under subsection D, ‘Any written or recorded statements and the substance of any oral statements made by a co-defendant,’ period. Doesn’t get any clearer than that, that the state is required to turn over any co-defendant statements, and the state has failed to do that. I don’t know why the state failed to do that, but y’all did," he said.
[WATCH: Judge says state violated Rules of Criminal Procedure]
Prosecutors argued that they didn’t use any of the information from Manns during Dotson’s trial, but Henderson ruled that the conversation should have been disclosed to the defense during the discovery phase of the case.
It’s not known when Dotson’s trial will start over yet.
If she is convicted of murder, Dotson faces the death penalty.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.