A Florida woman jailed accused of killing her terminally ill mother in Cape May County has been released after her defense presented new evidence.
Josephine Scheid is charged with murder for allegedly using drugs to kill 58-year-old Gabrielle Michaelis, who died Oct. 31, 2018.
It took nearly a year to charge Scheid, who was arrested in November.
She has remained jailed since then, as her defense insisted her mother died from the cancer that had put her in hospice.
Their client was denied release during a detention hearing last year, but after presenting new evidence Friday, the judge granted Scheid's release with strict conditions, including electronic monitoring.
Defense attorneys John Zarych and Brenden Shur presented the judge with a report by nationally renowned pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who agreed it was the cancer that killed Michaelis.
They also pointed to the findings that supposedly implicated their client, including a blood draw that took several stabs to the body to obtain and then was held in an unsecured refrigerator for 28 days before it was mailed to the lab.
The attorneys said the chain of custody cannot be proven and called the evidence "problematic."
The defense also attacked the use of Scheid's search history that included suspicious searches of the drugs used and how to kill with them was done after her mother's death.
At that point, Scheid already was in the midst of a civil battle with her brother and his wife, and was just doing the research she learned from 10 years as a paralegal, Shur said.
"The accusations against Josephine Scheid arose from a bitter family dispute and significant mistakes by a professional outside of the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office," Zarych told BreakingAC after the judge ordered Scheid's release.
"We're very happy and grateful that, after almost 10 months of what was based on faulty evidence submitted to the grand jury and judge, that our client is now being released by the court," Zarych said.
"We want to emphasize that we do believe the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office acted in good faith when they brought these charges and especially was acting in good faith when they acknowledged that significant parts of the case were found to be unsubstantiated," he added.
Zarych said they will continue to work to have their client cleared.
Meanwhile, Scheid will be released on an ankle bracelet, which Chief Assistant Prosecutor Sav Carroccia said he was told would not be available until at least Wednesday.
Scheid will remain jailed until one is available.
