The Liverpool woman who poisoned her husband with anti-freeze will return to court for a hearing. The trial made national news as it unfolded in Syracuse in 2009.
The Appellate Division in Rochester issued a ruling today saying Stacey Castor is entitled to a hearing about whether she was properly represented by counsel in the days after her husband's body was exhumed in 2007.
Initially it appeared David Castor had died from a heart attack in 2005. Two years later his body was exhumed and an autopsy revealed he was poisoned with anti-freeze. Stacey Castor was convicted of his murder in 2009.
The Appellate Division acknowledged there was a lack of clarity on whether Castor was represented properly by counsel in criminal matters when she spoke with an attorney who represented her in civil matters.
The decision states: "The right to counsel attaches in criminal matters only when the attorney represents the defendant in the criminal matter, and not solely in a civil matter, and the record in the direct appeal here does not provide a sufficient basis for determining whether defendant's attorney represented her with respect to the investigation of her second husband's death or only with respect to his estate."
Even though Castor is entitled to a hearing on one matter, the Appellate Division stands by her conviction and sentencing. It even acknowledges in the decision that Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick provided extensive evidence that Castor was also responsible for the anti-freeze poisoning of her first husband in Cayuga County.
