Smith v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of the victim's violent acts against third parties in support of the defendant's affirmative defense of justification, as the defendant did not establish that the victim was the aggressor in the encounter that resulted in her death.

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Appellant Robert Merrill Smith was convicted of the malice murder of his wife, Jennifer Smith, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.1 On appeal Smith questions the sufficiency of the evidence, the content of the jury instructions, the trial court’s refusal to admit evidence of the victim’s purported acts of violence against third parties, and trial counsel’s alleged ineffective assistance of counsel.

1. The State presented evidence that Jennifer Smith died in her Gwinnett County bedroom as a result of gunshot wounds to her neck and left chest. Police recovered from a stereo cabinet at the crime scene a .45-caliber handgun with blood on it. A firearms expert identified the gun as the instrument that fired the bullet recovered from the scene and that discharged the two .45-caliber shell casings found in the victim’s bedroom. The parties stipulated that the blood on the gun and on clothing appellant was wearing at the time of his arrest was that of the victim. Police were notified of Mrs. Smith’s death by a telephone call from a neighbor of the Smiths who reported that appellant, with blood on his feet, was in her home and had informed her that he had shot his wife with a gun that was on a table in the Smith home. A man identified by the neighbor as “Bobby Smith” told the 911 operator that he had “shot her twice” and requested that authorities “just come get her.” Also played for the jury was an audiovisual recording of appellant made after he was arrested and placed in an interview room by himself, in which recording appellant expressed his anger with his wife, stated he “did it,” and described himself as a killer.2

Smith v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence of the victim's violent acts against third parties in support of the defendant's affirmative defense of justification, as the defendant did not establish that the victim was the aggressor in the encounter that resulted in her death.

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