ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Attorneys in the Susan Embert murder trial are preparing to return to court Friday, Dec. 5 to deliver case law to Judge Victoria Johnson. She will then determine the best way to proceed legally.

Susan Embert is in her second murder trial in the shooting death of her husband, Jake Embert.

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Wednesday, Dec. 3, while Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler was on the stand, he mentioned an expert’s findings that were excluded from this trial but allowed in Susan Embert’s first trial.

“I would still stand on what I did on that part, a gunshot to the head. Now, for the information I received with the hearsay, the antifreeze —,” Coroner Fowler said.

The defense immediately objected and cut off Fowler’s testimony when he mentioned the word “antifreeze” while speaking about Jake Embert’s death.

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Thursday, Dec. 4, WALB sat down with Attorney Christopher Cohilas who said, in fact, what happened on the stand occurs more than people realize.

“What were faced with right now is the judge is going to have to make one of three decisions,” Cohilas said. “One: Was the testimony so bad and so unfair that it damaged Ms. Embert’s right to a fair trial? Or is it something that could be fixed?”

Judge Johnson said she wants to hear arguments from both sides before choosing between a mistrial with prejudice, which would mean the trial is over, and Susan Embert could not be tried again.

She could also rule a mistrial without prejudice. Meaning there would be a new trial, with a new jury. Or, the trial could continue with Coroner Fowler’s comment struck from the record.

“The defense is doing what it absolutely should be doing, they should be making a motion for mistrial. The state is doing absolutely what it should be doing which is saying there was no prejudicial impact, the testimony was cut off, none of the expert testimony was actually presented to the jury, so technically there was no violation,” Cohilas said. “Both sides are doing exactly what they should be doing, and the judge has demonstrated that she is doing exactly what she should be doing which is considering both sides equally, fairly and carefully.”

Court resumes Friday morning at 9 a.m. Then, Judge Johnson will hear both sides and make the decision that will decide Susan Embert’s future.

WALB will provide updates as we learn more. Stay with us.

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