Prosecutors can’t use dead mother’s testimony against her son, judge rules

Broward prosecutors will not be allowed to use the testimony of Polk County resident Jeanne Avsenew, who died earlier this month, against her son, Peter Avsenew, who is set to be retried in May for the 2010 murders of a Wilton Manors couple.

Jeanne Avsenew’s death may not be fatal to the case against her son, who was already a suspect in the murders of Kevin Powell, 52, and Stephen Adams, 47, but it certainly complicates the prosecution. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in January that the mother’s testimony was so persuasive that it could not be ignored, and the Broward judge who oversaw the case never should have allowed prosecutors to present it to the jury.

Avsenew’s mother testified remotely in a deposition, and she could not see her son when she answered questions under oath. A recording of the testimony was played for the jury. The Supreme Court ruled this was a violation of her son’s Constitutional right to confront his accuser.

[ RELATED: Mom dies before she can testify against her son in murder retrial ]

Without her testimony, prosecutors would still be able to say that Peter Avsenew came to stay with the victims in their Wilton Manors home shortly after they posted a sexually suggestive ad on the Craigslist website, that the victims were murdered, and that the defendant abruptly left town with the men’s cash, credit cards and SUV.

Prosecutors can still say, if they call the right witnesses, that the defendant went to see his mother in Polk County on Christmas Day 2010, and that the vehicle was recovered by local law enforcement.

But they won’t be able to let the next jury know what the last jury learned from the mother — that he admitted stealing the SUV, admitted getting rid of a gun, admitted doing something “violent” and that she discovered her son was a person of interest in the murders, leading to her fearing for her safety and asking a friend to call police.

Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein told defense lawyer Gabe Ermine to be prepared to object any time prosecutors tried to get the mother’s testimony admitted through another witness. Witnesses typically cannot tell a jury about what other people told them; that would be hearsay. But there are exceptions to the hearsay rule that prosecutors can rely on to salvage some of the mother’s testimony.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday.