HOLLADAY, Utah – A Utah man convicted for intentionally killing his wife in a hit-and-run was back in court on Thursday trying to get another trial.
65-year-old Sherman Lynch was convicted for running over and killing his wife Pat Rothermich in 2007 and is now serving up to life in prison for obstruction of justice and murder, reportedly to collect money on two life insurance policies.
He was in court Thursday fighting for a new trial, saying that his original defense attorney was ineffective and that there were discrepancies with evidence in his case.
“I would have put more work into a whiplash case than the defense attorney at trial put into this case,” said Lynch’s new attorney Steve Austin.
Thursday’s hearing focused on zip ties that were allegedly found found at the crime scene that reportedly matched other zip ties found in Lynch’s vehicle, but investigators for Lynch say that a detective admitted to them that those zip ties were not found at the scene.
“If you didn’t have those zip ties theoretically tying the truck to the scene then you have a much different case,” Austin said.
But prosecutor David Carlson says those zip ties can be seen in photographs of the crime scene, and that Lynch has to do more to clearly prove that he was innocent.
“The only new evidence he had were these affidavits that he got from two private investigators that tried to muddy the waters of the conviction,” Carlson said.
The judge ruled against Lynch in that argument, but he will still get an opportunity to argue that his original lawyers were ineffective. That hearing hasn’t been scheduled.
