Appeals court overturns Bend woman’s conviction in smothering of grandmother

Says counselor who defendant confided to could only make police report, not testify

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Bend woman who admitted smothering her 92-year-old grandmother with a pillow nearly four years ago has had her second-degree manslaughter conviction overturned by the Oregon Court of Appeals.

The court issued that ruling Thursday in the case of Angela Judd, now 49, a registered nurse who had been her grandmother Nada Bodholdt's caregiver for several years. She had gone into hospice care shortly before her death.

Judd had entered a conditional guilty plea -- meaning she could file an appeal over disputed testimony -- in the killing of Bodholdt on New Year's Eve 2015. She accepted the plea deal to avoid a murder trial and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

The killing came to light when Judd told a counselor what she had done, and the counselor notified authorities, under the state's mandatory reporting requirements for elder abuse.

The appeals court reversed the conviction and the remanded the case back to the lower court. It ruled that the counselor, who testified at trial over defense objections, could only file an initial report with police and that the rest of what she was told was privileged information.

The court reviewed lawmakers' debate over the details of legislation in Salem and ruled that they had intended to only "allow for an initial report of suspected elder abuse," and that "the trial court erred in concluding otherwise."

The appeals court ruling could be appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court for review.