Pamela Smart seeks new trial as New Hampshire judge reviews petition to overturn her life sentence for orchestrating her husband's murder.
Pamela Smart appeared remotely from a New York correctional facility on Monday for a hearing regarding her petition for a new trial. The 58-year-old is currently serving a life sentence without parole for orchestrating the 1990 murder of her husband, Gregory Smart, by her teenage student. Lawyers for Pamela Smart argue that the original jury was misled by inaccurate transcripts of surreptitiously recorded conversations. They contend that jurors were directed to hear specific words, such as "killed" and "murder," even when those words were not clearly audible on the tapes. While the state argues that most claims were already resolved during the appeal process, the defense maintains that the transcripts created a cognitive bias for the jury. Merrimack County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy took the matter under advisement and plans to issue a ruling within 30 to 60 days. The case, which was one of the first to be broadcast live on television, remains a landmark example of a high-profile murder conspiracy.