SAN DIEGO -- A woman cleared of charges that she poisoned her Marine husband said Friday that she's looking forward to doing some "girl things" and seeing her four children after nearly two-and-a-half years in jail.

Prosecutors Thursday dismissed murder charges against Cynthia Sommer, saying tests performed on newly discovered tissues from the victim revealed no arsenic.

The discovery provided reasonable doubt that 23-year-old Sgt. Todd Sommer died of arsenic poisoning, said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

The case was dismissed without prejudice -- meaning charges could be re-filed -- and Cynthia Sommer was released from jail Thursday night.

The 34-year-old woman was convicted of first-degree murder in her husband's death, which happened in February 2002.

In November, Judge Peter Deddeh granted the defendant a new trial, saying her attorney made mistakes that affected the outcome of the first trial.

Her retrial was scheduled to start next month and she faced life in prison without parole if convicted.

Outside her attorney's downtown office Friday, Sommer was asked if she was angry about what happened.

"Would you be?" Sommer asked the reporter. "Yeah."

Sommer said she was looking forward to getting a haircut, facial, taking a bath and going shopping.

She appeared at a news conference wearing clothes that her friend had brought from San Francisco.

Sommer said the first thing she did when she got out of jail was to go to Starbucks for a cup of coffee, then to dinner where she had coconut shrimp.

The woman said she was also looking to seeing her 15-year-old daughter and sons ages 13, 12, and 8. The youngest boy came from her marriage to Todd Sommer.

Sommer said she wants to work for people who have been unjustly accused of crimes.

She said she will tell her children what happened to her.

"I'm not going to hide that from them," Sommer said.

From the day she was arrested, Sommer has maintained that she had nothing to do with her husband's death.

"I don't need to prove to anyone that I'm innocent," she told reporters.

If she could ask prosecutors one question, Sommer said it would be, "How'd they sleep last night?"

Her attorney, Allen Bloom, said justice was done but not because of the efforts of the district attorney's office.

"They only found these (tissues) when I made a request for everything," Bloom told reporters. "This is something that hit them in the forehead."

Bloom said he hoped to get the case dismissed with prejudice. Evidence of Sommer's behavior after her husband died, such as getting breast implants, having sex with other Marines and partying in Tijuana had "nothing to do with anything," Bloom said.

Dumanis said the case was handled exactly the way it should have been. She said the case was dismissed as soon as the new tests showing no arsenic in the victim's tissues were known.

Todd Sommer's death was originally found to be from natural causes and a possible fluttering heart.

In 2003, a military laboratory found high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.

Prosecutors believe the defendant used something like ant stakes to kill her husband, but no evidence was presented in the trial that she bought arsenic.