Elsie Boyson and her husband, Robert Boyson, were both murdered (shot in the head) in their Oceanside home in 1980. There were no signs of forced entry. Their son, David, was having serious financial problems at the time of the murder, stood to inherit a significant sum of money as a result of their death, and refused to cooperate with police. He became the focus of the murder investigation.
Notwithstanding some extremely incriminating evidence against David provided by his wife, Linda, in 1982, the district attorney declined to prosecute David -- or anyone else -- for the murders.
Over twenty years later, in 2003, the San Diego District Attorney's Office created a Cold Case Homicide Unit. On the theory, I imagine, that if it's good enough for television, it's good enough for San Diego. The Cold Case reinvestigated the Boyson homicides, found some additional evidence against David, and in 2004, the district attorney prosecuted David for the murders.
David's attorneys moved to dismiss the prosecution based upon the 24-year delay between the murders and the prosecution. The trial judge, Joan Weber, granted the motion and dismissed the information. And, in this opinion, the Court of Appeal unanimously affirms the dismissal.
Sometimes television does not reflect reality. Shocking, I know.
