KNOXVILLE, Iowa — A judge has again ruled that a $10 million civil trial verdict holding a man responsible for his mother’s death will stand although the man was acquitted after a criminal trial on a murder charge.
Marion County Judge Martha Mertz released her decision Monday in the case against Jason Carter, who wanted the civil trial verdict set aside. Mertz also refused Carter’s request that she excuse herself from the case.
The civil verdict ordered him to pay the money to his mother’s estate. His father, Bill Carter, had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his son, saying Jason fatally shot 68-year-old Shirley Carter in June 2015 to gain access to his parents’ assets. Jason Carter denied the allegation.
In March a jury found Jason Carter not guilty of the murder charge.
Jason Carter has alleged that investigators didn’t thoroughly check out other leads while pursuing him as a suspect. He also said he had an alibi that should have disqualified him from being a suspect.
The judge said in her earlier ruling that the result of the criminal trial does not make the civil jury’s finding invalid.
