JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Saying the state “willfully and intentionally” withheld evidence in the murder case against Kimberly Kessler, defense attorneys want prosecutors to explain why they didn’t disclose the presence of meth in the alleged victim’s purse.
Kessler is charged with murder in the 2018 disappearance of Nassau County mother and hairstylist Joleen Cummings. Cummings' body has never been found.
According to the defense motion for a rehearing, the state learned in February 2019 that a baggie of meth was found in Joleen Cummings’ purse, but did not disclose that fact until Nov. 18, 2021 -- “some six business days before the start of trial.” The motion says there was also “a second baggie containing powdery or chalky substance” found inside the Nassau County hair salon where both Cummings and Kessler worked, which was not confirmed to be meth and did not appear consistent with the appearance of crystal meth.
The defense notes that prosecutors filed a motion in October to prevent any evidence of Cummings’ “alleged drug usage” from being introduced at trial without disclosing that a substance confirmed by state lab tests to be meth was found in her purse.
According to the new motion, the evidence of drug use is central to the defense’s case.
“It is the defense theory of the case that Ms. Kessler’s complaints about drugs in the hair salon angered Joleen Cummings and was an ongoing source of contention in the workplace," the motion says. "Evidence of such behavior could establish a motive for Joleen Cummings to become physically violent with defendant Kessler. In fact, evidence establishes that before Cummings was discovered to be missing, the hair salon had been the scene of a fairly violent fight, in that furniture was broken, plants were broken and displaced and blood that belonged to both women was found throughout the salon. Evidence establishes that only Cummings and Kessler worked at the salon that day.”
The motion says that when Nassau County Sheriff’s Office detectives interviewed the owner of Tangles salon, Vicki Simmons, she told them, “there was an ongoing issue about a small baggie of unknown substance that was found at the shop at some point. [Kessler] kept making a big deal about it and even telling customers about it, which everyone felt was inappropriate.”
According to the motion, another worker “described Ms. Kessler’s complaints about drugs being in the salon and Ms. Kessler’s persistence in complaining of this in the presence of Joleen Cummings.”
The state has not yet responded to the motion, and the judge has not scheduled a hearing.
First Coast News has reached out to the State Attorney's Office for comment.
Jury selection in the case is set to begin Nov. 29 and expected to last a week.