Mr Valeska says Tina's father, Thommy Thomas, said his only wish was to have the case go before a jury. He says under Alabama state law and federal law there are no other options to pursue the year-old over the death of his first wife.
There were a lot of sighs of relief," he said. After a legal battle stretching across two continents and eight years, the prosecutor says the case is now finished, forever. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Alabama prosecutor Don Valeska says the case should have gone to the jury. More on:. Thai sex workers call for billion-dollar industry to be recognised.
Live: Mourners prepare to farewell Bert Newton at state funeral in Melbourne. Matthew Wade blasts Australia into World Cup final. Watson filed for some expenses from a travel policy, but it was denied on a technicality, Bloomston said. His client did sue an insurance company when it denied him an accidental death benefit, the attorney said.
The defense argued that Tina Watson was wearing too much weight with her suit, and that a strong current, her relative diving inexperience and a pattern of anxiety during dives were contributing factors. It also argued those behind the dive failed to ensure the couple had proper orientation for what it said was a difficult dive. The doctrine of double jeopardy -- which says that a person cannot be tried or punished twice for the same crime -- does not apply in Watson's case, according to established legal precedent, legal experts have said.
Double jeopardy does not apply because two separate sovereigns, a state government and a foreign government, were seeking to prosecute, said John Lentine, a Birmingham criminal defense attorney and law school professor. Australian authorities investigated Tina Watson's death for years, according to inquest findings in June Townsville, Queensland, Coroner David Glascow pressed for charges after determining that the drowning couldn't be deemed accidental.
Watson's attorneys have said that their client pleaded guilty in Australia only "for failing to rescue his wife because he merely did not do enough to save her.
Watson served 18 months in an Australian prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter there in To convict him in Alabama, prosecutors had to prove Watson intentionally killed his bride of 11 days in Australia, and that he did so under a special circumstance that would make the murder a capital crime in Alabama, killing her to profit from insurance in Jefferson County. I'm sure we'll never know. Nail also said the prosecution's evidence about financial gain was a stretch, and he heard no evidence proving a profit motive.
In fact, Gabe Watson gained no financial benefit from the death, and inquiries about life insurance by him in his role as administrator of his wife's estate did not prove he hoped to profit by killing her, Nail said. The courtroom erupted in cheers from Watson's supporters after Nail announced the acquittal.
Watson left the courtroom through a side door, chased by media cameras as his lawyers advised him not to comment. The Thomas family also left without commenting. Watson stood silent as Bloomston talked to local, national and Australian outlets.
He said he hoped both families now could find closure. In the courtroom after the judge's ruling, the defendant's father said he was relieved for his son. I'm sure they'll never get over it. The prosecution rested its case Thursday after a lunch break. Then Bloomston asked Nail to dismiss the case, a routine motion that normally is denied. Bloomston argued that the only witness who saw Gabe and Tina Thomas Watson together underwater testified he thought Gabe Watson was trying to save his wife's life.
The defense has contended that Tina Thomas Watson's death was the result of several circumstances, including safety violations by the dive boat operators in allowing the novice to go to an advanced dive site without a professional accompanying her. Don Valeska, the lead state prosecutor, argued to Nail that the prosecution proved its case and the jury should be allowed to consider the capital count.
If he had been convicted, Watson would have been sentenced to life without parole.
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