[title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]MN Supreme Court to hear Byron Smith murder appeal Sept. 3rd[/title][fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]Wednesday, July 29th 2015
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Byron Smith at 10:00am on September 3rd. Smith was convicted by a Morrison County jury of two counts each of first- and second-degree murder for shooting Haile Kifer and Nick Brady after the teenagers broke in to Smith’s house on Thanksgiving Day 2012. Smith’s appeal argued that he was prevented by the trial judge from presenting a complete defense. He wanted to let jurors hear from Brady’s friends who would have connected Brady to previous burglaries at Smith’s house. Morrison County District Court Judge Douglas Anderson didn’t allow that testimony because he said there was no evidence that Smith knew that Brady was involved in the burglaries before the shootings. Smith’s defense was also prevented from calling an expert witness who was going to testify about how high-stress situations can affect how a person sees, hears and reacts to events during a crisis. The appeal also claims that the grand jury indictment of Smith was flawed and that prosecutors committed misconduct in closing arguments. In Minnesota, a Supreme Court appeal is mandatory for a first degree murder conviction. Smith is serving his life sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater.
[/fusion_text][/fullwidth]