The Jury disagreed with the prosecution. 'You had to protect your family': Jury finds Kenneth Ray Smith not guilty
It took the jury 20 minutes to find the defendant NOT GUILTY of First Degree Murder, and not guilty of first degree manslaughter.
Smith spent the first eight months after his September 2020 arrest in the Creek County Jail, owing to a $1 million bond. Following a series of preliminary hearings where Fu accused prosecutors of withholding evidence, Smith’s bail was lowered and he was able to bond out in June.
Oh, what's that? Violating rules of evidence in order to get a "win?" Where does Justice fall in all of this.
EXACTLY why I carry an "Ultimate" plan with CCWSafe. Many great features and it covers my wife. They are the only self defense insurers that have beaten a "Murder 1" charge brought by an over-zealous prosecutor. $499 per year with an available $50 veteran discount (but you gotta ask for it)
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the win, nothing else.
ReplyDeleteHe won....but he still spent months behind bars, lost his job and will probably end up bankrupt. Remember.....the process is the punishment.
ReplyDeleteSmith should have claimed that he was trying to rob the individual, he would have gotten a "walk" or maybe a ticket for "J-walking".
ReplyDeletenark aside, this was a variation of a "Domestic" dispute. If a stranger had attacked or was pushing his way into a residence, I don't think there would be any question about defense. The story is poorly witten but the two seemed to have lived in the same household and had "issues". I'd guess that any witnesses were conflicted about "finking" one of their own to "John Law" ("He was a good boy".) and upsetting "Momma" and her family. The prosecutor may have thrown up his hands at the wall of "mush mouth" and decided to just let the jury figure it out. The situation went down hill from there. Just a guess. Blood on the street and lots of media coverage, so he couldn't just let it slip into the darkness. Since he couldn't tell where the "mush" was coming from, he turned it up to "Max". Sounds like the defense was able to cut through the "mush" and get to reasonable ground.
ReplyDeleteStranger "self defense" is a different beast than a "Domestic" with all the "mush" and "mess".