Jameson Nance was only three years old when he was battered and beaten to death in Florida in 2021. A judge in the Sunshine State has declared a mistrial in the case against one of his alleged murderers.
Erica Beth Dotson, 31, is charged with one count each of premeditated murder in the first degree, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse, and child neglect with great bodily harm, according to Brevard County Sheriff’s Office records.
Her trial started in late August. On Tuesday, those proceedings came to a premature – and likely far from final – conclusion.
The mistrial occurred after 18th Judicial Circuit Judge Steve Henderson sharply reprimanded prosecutors over discovery issues.
The court chastised prosecutors for allegedly withholding evidence from the defendant, according to a courtroom report by Daytona Beach-based NBC affiliate WESH.
“Discovery is black and white,” the judge emphasized. “It says subsection B, prosecutor discover obligations, and then subsection D, any written or recorded statements, as well as the substance of any oral statements made by a defendant. Period. It doesn’t get any clearer than this.
The state is required to turn over any co-defendant statements, but it has failed to do so. I’m not sure why the state failed to do this, but you know it did.
It is a discovery violation, so the court will consider the factors. The court will find that it was a willful violation to fail to provide the defense with a copy of the co-defendant’s recorded proffer.”
On the day in question, police responded to a 911 call reporting a “child not breathing” in an apartment on Lago Circle in West Melbourne, a small city about 70 miles southeast of Orlando.
Dotson greeted the officers at the stairs. She was holding 3-year-old Jameson’s lifeless body in her arms. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, the child suffered from prolonged “battered child syndrome” with a litany of injuries inflicted weeks before his death, including a broken tooth “pushed into” his gums, a cut on his jaw, a fractured right rib and left arm, a ruptured esophagus, and seven separate stab wounds — some fresh, some healing — to his head.
A slew of heinous allegations followed, with prosecutors claiming that Dotson allowed her child to be abused by her then-boyfriend, Joshua Andrew Manns, 29. Or, at the very least, the mother was aware of the abuse but took no action to stop it.
The court separated the trials of the former couple earlier this year, based on a defense request, due to the narratives provided by each co-defendant about their respective culpability.
Now, the judge claims that prosecutors’ treatment of the co-defendants during individualized pretrial discussions was unethical.
“Court’s gonna find that it was a substantial violation and the court’s gonna find that the defense was prejudged by the state withholding the codefendant’s statements,” Henderson went onto say. “Primarily because the state used that proffer and those statements from Mr. Manns against the defendant in this case on cross-examination.”
On Monday, Dotson testified in her own defense, claiming ignorance about the cause of her son’s injuries while admitting she knew the boy was, at the very least, struggling to live.
“I truly believed my son was simply having accidents. “I believed everything Josh said,” Dotson testified. “I just didn’t see what was happening. “I wasn’t at home much.”
However, during cross-examination, the state brought up Manns’ allegations against Dotson, including claims the mother “would kick” and “hit” her son when angry, which caught the defense off guard.
“The specificity of those allegations gives us concern that there was a discovery violation,” defense attorney Sarah Moore told the court. “If those were allegations made by the co-defendant, they were not disclosed to us.”
Now, the prosecution must reconsider its strategy. The judge emphasized the gravity of the discovery violation in comparison to the gravity of the charges the defendant faces.
“We’re not talking about a third-degree felony,” Judge Henderson explained. “We’re discussing [a] death penalty case. The state should have turned it over. “I’m going to order the state to turn this over today and declare a mistrial.
The case is now on hold until October 29. During a calendar call on that date, the state will decide whether and when to retry Dotson.
