AUSTIN, Texas — A major development in the case of Rosa Jimenez: a judge has dismissed the charges against her.
On Sept. 1, 2005, Jimenez was convicted in the death of a 21-month-old toddler she was babysitting when he choked on paper towels and died from related complications. Jimenez has maintained her innocence for nearly two decades.
In October 2019, nearly 15 years after she was convicted, a judge overturned Jimenez's murder conviction and ordered a new trial based on her being denied her constitutional right to present qualified medical experts. She was originally charged with a 99-year prison sentence.
In January 2021, the Travis County District Attorney's Office's Civil Integrity Unit joined Jimenez's counsel, the Innocence Project, to request her release on the basis that false medical assumptions were used to convict her. She was released on bond that month following an evidentiary hearing.
Travis County DA José Garza said a the time that the evidence presented established it was "more likely than not" that Jimenez is innocent.
With Jimenez released, that left two options for the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals: a brand new trial or determining Jimenez is, in fact, innocent. On May 31, 2023, the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed that Jimenez was entitled to relief based on the medical testimony provided during her trial and remanded her case back to the trial court
On Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, the Travis County DA's Office joined the Innocence Project to present the state's Motion to Dismiss Indictment in Jimenez's case during a hearing in a Travis County court. Jimenez and her attorney connected via Zoom.
“As prosecutors, we have an obligation to ensure the integrity of convictions and to seek justice,” DA Garza said. “In the case against Rosa Jimenez, it is clear that false medical testimony was used to obtain her conviction, and without that testimony under the law, she would not have been convicted. Dismissing Ms. Jimenez’s case is the right thing to do. Our hearts also continue to break for the Gutierrez family. In this case, our criminal justice system failed them, and it also failed Rosa Jimenez. Our hope is that by our actions today, by exposing the truth that Ms. Jimenez did not commit the crime for which she was accused, we can give some sense of closure and peace to both families.”
On Monday afternoon, a judge dismissed the charges against Jimenez.