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Pamela Smart's latest bid for freedom rejected by New Hampshire judge
A New Hampshire judge has dismissed the latest habeas corpus petition from Pamela Smart, who is serving a life sentence for orchestrating the 1990 murder of her husband, Gregory Smart.
Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy granted the state’s motion to dismiss the petition, ruling that Smart’s legal arguments lacked merit and had either been raised in previous appeals or could have been. Smart’s defense team argued that prosecutors misled the jury by providing inaccurate transcripts of recorded conversations. They claimed the transcripts included words that were not actually audible on the recordings, such as “killed,” “busted,” and “murder.”
Smart, 59, was a high school media coordinator at the time of the crime. She was convicted in 1991 after an affair with her 15-year-old student, who later shot Gregory Smart. While the shooter was released from prison in 2015, Smart remains incarcerated without the possibility of parole.
Entities
Gregory Smart · James Kennedy · Merrimack County Superior Court · Pamela Smart
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The individual who shot Gregory Smart was released from prison in 2015 after serving 25 years. krmg.com · wtop.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] Lawyers argued prosecutors provided inaccurate transcripts of surreptitiously recorded conversations to the jury. krmg.com · wtop.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy dismissed Pamela Smart’s petition for a new trial. krmg.com · wtop.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] Pamela Smart was convicted in 1991 of being an accomplice to first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. krmg.com · wtop.com