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Last updated: November 05. 2004 11:18PM
Free at last
By Ken Little
His broad smile betrayed no hint of anger or bitterness at being wrongfully imprisoned since 1984 for sex crimes he didn’t commit. “I feel fine,” Mr. Smith said after Resident Superior Court Judge William C. Gore Jr. and District Attorney Rex Gore com-pleted the legal requirements to set him free. The next move belongs to the man who helped convict Mr. Smith: Gov. Mike Easley. Mr. Easley prosecuted Mr. Smith in 1984 when he was Brunswick County district attorney and will likely be asked to issue a pardon. If he does so, Mr. Smith, 53, could be eligible to receive $400,000 – $20,000 for each year he spent in state prison, a spokeswoman for the governor said Friday. The courtroom erupted into cheers and applause when the district attorney announced he was dropping charges of rape and first-degree sex offense. About 10 minutes later, Mr. Smith, his wife, Phillis, and about 50 relatives gathered in a meeting room, joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer. One of the victims he was convicted of abusing came forward in July with a version of events that implicated a male cousin. Now 25 years old, the woman testified that when she was 4, she regarded Mr. Smith as her father. When a medical examination revealed that she had been raped, the girl’s grandmother was quick to instruct her and her 5-year-old cousin to say Mr. Smith was responsible, not their 9-year-old cousin. The cousin was convicted in 1994 of murder and is serving a life sentence. Because of his age at the time of the crime, he cannot be prosecuted. “There was a lot of pressure coming from somebody that I loved – my grandmother,” the woman testified. The Star-News does not name victims of sexual abuse. Helping to put Mr. Smith in prison left a lasting sense of guilt, she said, but she did not act on it until recently. “I was afraid nobody would believe me and I wanted to get on with my life and just try to keep my head together and forget about it,” she said. “My heart wouldn’t allow me to do it.” The woman doesn’t recall most of the 1984 trial, but when a transcript of her testimony was shown to her by Mr. Gore, she did remember telling a defense lawyer that Mr. Smith was not the abuser. Mr. Gore said Wednesday that his office first became aware of new evidence in the case in July, but the woman did not recant until meeting with Mr. Smith’s lawyer, Roy Trest, last month. Mr. Trest contacted the District Attorney’s Office and Friday’s hearing was scheduled. The woman’s cousin, who is 26, reluctantly took the stand Friday and said she wasn’t sexually abused by anyone at that age. Not everyone in the courtroom came to see Mr. Smith go free. Judge Gore allowed two women to offer testimony that attempted to discredit the testimony. One was the rape victim’s mother, who was dating Mr. Smith when the allegations were made and who had a son with him. “I know some of the things they said in this courtroom today are lies,” she said. The mother and a family friend, Betty Jean Fulton, suggested that the Smith family paid the women for their testimony. The victim and her children are living with a member of Mr. Smith’s family, Ms. Fulton said. The woman’s mother testified she feared for her daughter’s two children if Mr. Smith came to live with them. Under questioning by Mr. Gore, the victim said she did not receive any compensation to testify. “This is being done of my own free will,” she said. “This is what I want to do. It’s just right.” “Ascertainment of the truth” is why the District Attorney’s Office filed the motion for appropriate relief, Mr. Gore said. Mr. Smith has maintained his innocence. Judge Gore granted the request for a new trial, stating the woman “was induced by her grandmother to falsely testify against the defendant.” The district attorney then dropped the charges, which triggered tears from Mr. Smith and a courtroom celebration by his relatives, including Phyllis Smith, who remained married to Mr. Smith throughout his time in prison. Mr. Trest said the work of the District Attorney’s Office in helping to free his client is highly unusual. “This is remarkable that the district attorney and the defense attorney are working for the same relief, particularly in a case of this magnitude,” Mr. Trest said. Coretta Hickman described her cousin, Mr. Smith, as a “very quiet” man who kept to himself. “I really don’t think he did it. No person would do something like that,” Ms. Hickman said. “I hope when he gets out he don’t come back with no ill will.” Mr. Smith was convicted before the use of DNA evidence or other technological tools now taken for granted, Mr. Gore said. He said Mr. Easley and Wanda Bryant, then an assistant district attorney and now an appellate judge, worked with the evidence they had. Easley spokeswoman Cari Boyce said Friday that while the governor is familiar with the case, no comment was forthcoming. “He has not been provided enough information about this case to comment on it,” she said. To get reimbursed for his time in prison, Mr. Smith would need a Pardon of Innocence from Mr. Easley. “It will be carefully reviewed by the governor’s legal counsel and the governor,” Ms. Boyce said. If the pardon is issued, Mr. Smith can seek compensation from the N.C. Industrial Commission. He is eligible for $20,000 for each year he served in prison, with a cap of $500,000, she said. Ken Little: 343-2389 ken.little@starnewsonline.com | |
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