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Mark Woodworth crossed a very big hurdle when a Missouri judge urged this Tuesday that his conviction be set aside, according to his mother Jackie Woodworth, but he has not been released yet from Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron.
Woodworth was appealing a life sentence he received a decade ago for the 1990 murder of 41-year-old Cathy Robertson, his neighbor in rural Chillicothe, and for the shooting of her husband, Lyndel, who survived the attack.
Mark Woodworth’s father Claude and Lyndel Robertson were farming partners. Mark Woodworth was 16 at the time. He was twice convicted of the slaying, in 1995 and in 1999 following an appeal.
A Special Master assigned to the case, Jerry Oxenhandler (Boone County Circuit Judge, for the Missouri Supreme Court), has ruled in favor of Woodworth’s release due to multiple "conflicts of interest" in prior trial processes. Oxenhandler said "a manifest injustice" had been done Woodworth and that no jury would have convicted him had their been a balanced investigation.
The state of Missouri through the Missouri Attorney General’s office has 30 days to review the decision and file a reply as to why Mark Woodworth should not be released.
His mother said her family and Woodworth’s lawyer Bob Ramsey would be petitioning for bond to try to get Woodworth home while justices decide how to proceed.
"It’s a big hurdle," Mrs. Woodworth said. "The judge recommended that the convictions be set aside, but the rest will depend on the Supreme Court."
The hearing started the end of May last year and has been ongoing for the past 11 months. During that time Master Judge Oxenhandler, appointed by the Supreme Court, has been looking into court documents and hearing from witnesses regarding the case.
"We’re ecstatic," Mrs. Woodworth said of her son’s likely release. "The phone hasn’t quit."