http://www.goupstate.com/article/20100123/ARTICLES/1231018/1083/ARTICLESConvicted murderer Susan V. Smith, who gained national attention in the 1994 drowning deaths of her two young sons in Union County, has filed a six-page handwritten letter asking that her sentence of life in prison be overturned.
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Smith outlined her defense for the post-conviction relief hearing and provided information for a court-appointed attorney to use at the hearing.
Her first defense was that her Miranda rights were violated.
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Smith also accused the prosecutors of misconduct, who, Smith wrote, knew she should have a lawyer present, but allowed the interrogation without counsel.
She wrote that she had ineffective assistance from her defense attorney and was forced to undergo the trial. She said the defense attorney falsely represented her by not allowing her to plead guilty, and she was denied a right to direct appeal of the verdict.
Smith also wrote that her attorney did not ask the jury to consider the presence of battered women's syndrome, childhood trauma and domestic violence to show mitigating circumstances prior to the verdict and during the sentencing phase.
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She wrote that she did not want her children to be subjected to sexual abuse and wanted out of her marriage to their father, David Smith.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_SmithAccording to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Smith will be eligible for parole on November 4, 2024, after serving a minimum of thirty years... While she has been in prison, two guards have been punished for having sex with Smith.
I bet her kids would have liked a chance at a do-over, too.
