Jane Dorotik expressed her disappointment in the justice system, stating, "I thought truth and justice was at the front of everything. And it certainly has not been in my case," during an interview with "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty in the episode titled "The Troubled Case Against Jane Dorotik," airing Saturday at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Sheriff's detective Rick Empson shared his belief that it was a homicide, stating, "It was obvious to me that it was a homicide," to Moriarty.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Bob Dorotik was not killed where his body was found due to the lack of blood at the scene. Blood spots were found all over the bedroom in the Dorotiks' home. Jane Dorotik explained that the blood was from her husband's recent nosebleed and their dogs, but authorities did not accept her explanations.
Detective Empson emphasized, "There was no question in our mind that this assault occurred in the master bedroom."
Three days after Bob Dorotik's body was found, Jane Dorotik, 53, was arrested for his murder. She later posted bail, and though she was under a cloud of suspicion, she invited "48 Hours" into her home in 2000.
"It felt like a nightmare, and I kept saying 'when am I gonna wake up?'" she told Moriarty.
When the case went to trial in May 2001, prosecutor Bonnie Howard-Regan described the 20 locations where investigators found blood.
"There was blood on the comforter. There was blood on the pillow sham …on the wall behind the bed … on the ceiling above the bed," she said.
Howard-Regan also told jurors there was a large blood stain on the underside of the mattress. The prosecution theorized that Jane Dorotik hit her husband with an object in the bedroom and strangled him. She then dressed him in his jogging suit, put him in their truck and dumped him along the side of the road where his body was found.
"The evidence will show that all this blood that has been described to you, the observations made in this bedroom, that it was all sent out for DNA analysis, and it all came back Bob Dorotik's blood," Howard-Regan told the jury.
The jury deliberated for four days before finding Jane Dorotik guilty. She was sentenced to 25 years to life.
"I just, I can't see my way clear to a life in prison. I just can't see it," she expressed during an interview in jail.
After spending years behind bars, Dorotik relentlessly requested a reexamination of the evidence. She argued that authorities had unfairly targeted her from the start of the investigation, neglecting to pursue other leads. Despite her efforts, motion after motion was consistently denied.
It wasn't until 2016 when she joined forces with a team from Loyola Project for the Innocent that a breakthrough occurred. Upon reviewing the bedroom blood evidence that the prosecutor had claimed was thoroughly tested and belonged to Bob Dorotik, discrepancies emerged. The appeal revealed that not every suspected blood stain in the bedroom had been tested; only representative samples were examined.
The appellate team discovered that various blood-like stains on items such as a pillow sham, nightstand, and lampshade did not actually contain blood. Furthermore, certain stains on the bedspread, previously identified in court as Bob Dorotik's blood, had never been subjected to testing at all.
"If you just look at all of the pieces of evidence that Loyola was able to absolutely take apart … and yet we know what was told to the jury in the original conviction… How can that happen?" Jane Dorotik questioned during a follow-up conversation with Moriarty, held two decades after her conviction.
Following a lengthy legal battle, Jane Dorotik has been acquitted of all charges in connection to the murder case that led to her imprisonment. The state's initial investigation pointed to Dorotik as the killer, citing the bedroom as the crime scene. However, new evidence emerged, leading to her temporary release from prison in April 2020 due to COVID health concerns.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office initially recommended overturning her conviction but later decided to retry her. Despite the judge allowing a new trial, some key evidence from the original trial was deemed inadmissible.
As the retrial was on the brink of commencing with jury selection in May 2022, the prosecutors surprised many by dropping all charges against Dorotik.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Campbell stated, "We no longer feel that the evidence is sufficient to show proof beyond a reasonable doubt and convince 12 members of the jury."
Following the dismissal of charges, Jane Dorotik expressed her overwhelming relief at a news conference outside the courthouse.
"It just is overwhelming to realize that now I can determine my own future. It's something I've prayed for and hoped for," she said.
