Executive Summary
- Pamela Smart filed a 169-page habeas corpus petition seeking a new trial or sentencing hearing.
- Defense attorneys argue a "trial by media" and biased audio transcripts violated her constitutional rights.
- The filing challenges the constitutionality of her mandatory life sentence for accomplice to murder.
- Smart has been imprisoned since her 1990 conviction for the death of her husband, Gregory Smart.
Pamela Smart, currently serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of her husband, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on Tuesday, seeking a new trial or sentencing hearing based on claims that her original conviction was unconstitutional.
In a 169-page document submitted to the New Hampshire Department of Justice and the New York Department of Correction, attorneys for the 58-year-old argue that the legal proceedings were fundamentally compromised by sensationalized media coverage. The filing asserts that Smart was the victim of a "trial by media," where news outlets sensationalized details, allegedly creating an environment that precluded a fair verdict.
The petition further challenges the prosecution’s use of transcripts for low-quality audio recordings presented during the trial. Citing a study with 191 participants, the defense argues that the provided transcripts imposed a "cognitive bias" on the jury, leading them to interpret inaudible or unclear audio in a manner favorable to the state’s narrative. According to the filing, the use of these transcripts effectively directed the jury’s perception of the evidence.
Additionally, the legal team contends that the State of New Hampshire failed to provide due process by imposing a mandatory life sentence. The filing notes a statutory distinction between the charge of accomplice to first-degree murder and the substantive crime of first-degree murder, arguing that the sentencing did not reflect this difference. Smart was convicted of conspiring with her teenage student and lover to kill her husband, Gregory Smart, while working as a high school media coordinator.
Legal Ramifications
This petition represents a significant attempt to leverage federal habeas corpus relief to overturn a decades-old state conviction. The arguments regarding "prejudicial publicity" and "cognitive bias" in evidence presentation address the intersection of media saturation and jury impartiality. For the court to grant relief, the defense must typically demonstrate that these factors resulted in a violation of constitutional rights that rendered the trial fundamentally unfair, a high legal bar for convictions established over thirty years ago.
