philemmons
02-17-07, 11:03 AM
MARIETTA, Ga. — On the day Josef Smith would have celebrated his 12th birthday, a jury convicted his parents of murdering him.
After deliberating for about nine hours, jurors handed down a guilty verdict Friday to Joseph and Sonya Smith for the felony murder of their 8-year-old son on Oct. 8, 2003.
The panel agreed with the prosecution's theory that the Smiths murdered Josef by a combination of asphyxiation and blunt-force trauma to his head as a result of child abuse.
Jurors also found the couple guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the charge of malice murder, four counts of first-degree cruelty to children and three counts of aggravated assault and one count of false imprisonment.
Prosecutor Eleanor Dixon said she was pleased that the jury "handed down justice for little Josef" on his birthday.
"I just hope he is up there right now looking down and saying 'I'm OK, this was the right thing,'" the prosecutor said after the verdict.
The felony murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with eligibility of parole after 30 years.
As the verdict was read, the Smiths sat next to each other, emotionless.
But before they were handcuffed and escorted to jail by bailiffs, the defendants pressed their heads together and looked into each other's eyes as they whispered.
About 50 members of the Remnant Fellowship Church, of which the Smiths are members, left the courtroom silently after the verdict. The Nashville, Tennessee-based group encourages parents to physically discipline their children.
Prosecutors argued that Josef Smith was the victim of chronic child abuse at the hands of his parents, and that abuse became fatal when the couple forced the 8-year-old into a three by two foot wooden box, closed the lid and tied it shut with extension cords.
A short time later, when Josef's brother discovered he wasn't breathing, they took him to the hospital. He died a day later after doctors determined he was brain dead.
After the verdict the Smiths' attorney, Manubir "Manny" Arora, labeled the panel's decision "a compromised verdict that gave the Smiths life."
"The jury couldn't get past the autopsy pictures of the child that were shown to them, and the jurors wanted to hold someone accountable for it," Arora said.
Arora argued that Josef Smith wasn't murdered, but instead died as the result of a fatal bacterial infection that made its way into the boy's blood system brought on by the dermatitis eczema.
At the couple's March 27 sentencing, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Jim Bodiford could increase the number of years before the Smiths are eligible for parole, as it will be up to the judge to run the other counts consecutively or concurrently to the felony murder sentence.
source (http://www.courttv.com/trials/smith/021607_verdict_ctv.html?cnn=yes)
After deliberating for about nine hours, jurors handed down a guilty verdict Friday to Joseph and Sonya Smith for the felony murder of their 8-year-old son on Oct. 8, 2003.
The panel agreed with the prosecution's theory that the Smiths murdered Josef by a combination of asphyxiation and blunt-force trauma to his head as a result of child abuse.
Jurors also found the couple guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the charge of malice murder, four counts of first-degree cruelty to children and three counts of aggravated assault and one count of false imprisonment.
Prosecutor Eleanor Dixon said she was pleased that the jury "handed down justice for little Josef" on his birthday.
"I just hope he is up there right now looking down and saying 'I'm OK, this was the right thing,'" the prosecutor said after the verdict.
The felony murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with eligibility of parole after 30 years.
As the verdict was read, the Smiths sat next to each other, emotionless.
But before they were handcuffed and escorted to jail by bailiffs, the defendants pressed their heads together and looked into each other's eyes as they whispered.
About 50 members of the Remnant Fellowship Church, of which the Smiths are members, left the courtroom silently after the verdict. The Nashville, Tennessee-based group encourages parents to physically discipline their children.
Prosecutors argued that Josef Smith was the victim of chronic child abuse at the hands of his parents, and that abuse became fatal when the couple forced the 8-year-old into a three by two foot wooden box, closed the lid and tied it shut with extension cords.
A short time later, when Josef's brother discovered he wasn't breathing, they took him to the hospital. He died a day later after doctors determined he was brain dead.
After the verdict the Smiths' attorney, Manubir "Manny" Arora, labeled the panel's decision "a compromised verdict that gave the Smiths life."
"The jury couldn't get past the autopsy pictures of the child that were shown to them, and the jurors wanted to hold someone accountable for it," Arora said.
Arora argued that Josef Smith wasn't murdered, but instead died as the result of a fatal bacterial infection that made its way into the boy's blood system brought on by the dermatitis eczema.
At the couple's March 27 sentencing, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Jim Bodiford could increase the number of years before the Smiths are eligible for parole, as it will be up to the judge to run the other counts consecutively or concurrently to the felony murder sentence.
source (http://www.courttv.com/trials/smith/021607_verdict_ctv.html?cnn=yes)