Pamela Smart, a former high school employee convicted of plotting with her teen lover to kill her husband in 1990, had her attempt to have her life sentence reduced denied once again Wednesday – this time by New Hampshire’s highest court.
In one of the first sensational trials covered in the news involving an affair with a student, which inspired books and the Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix movie “To Die For,” Smart, who was 22 at the time and working as a high school media coordinator, was accused of conspiring with 15-year-old lover, William Flynn, who later shot and killed her husband, Gregory Smart.
Though she admitted to seducing the teen, Smart denied knowledge of the murder plot carried out by Flynn and three other teenagers.
She was convicted anyhow of conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes and sentenced to life without parole. Flynn, convicted of shooting Gregory Smart in the head at the married couple’s Derry condominium while friends held a knife to the man’s neck, cooperated with prosecutors, served shorter sentences and has been released, as have the other teens.
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Having exhausted her judicial appeal options, Smart, now 55, asked a state council for a sentence reduction hearing last year. The five-member Executive Council, which approves state contracts and appointees to the courts and state agencies, rejected her request in less than three minutes, prompting the appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Pamela Smart testified in her own defense in Rockingham County Court. She received a life sentence after being convicted of conspiring to have her husband killed. (Getty Images)
But the state’s highest court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on Wednesday, saying that ordering the council to reconsider what it deemed a “political” question would violate the separation of powers. “Because imposing procedural rules or standards upon the executive branch in the commutation process would violate the separation of powers doctrine, we dismiss the Rule 11 petition for lack of jurisdiction,” Justice Patrick E. Donovan wrote in the opinion Wednesday, according to WMUR.
New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald recused himself.
“This ruling by the New Hampshire Supreme Court is a continuing disappointment that devastates our hopes for Pamela Smart finally receiving reasonable due process in the State of New Hampshire,” Smart’s spokeswoman, Eleanor Pam, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Pamela Smart was accused of consorting with her 15-year-old lover, William Flynn, in the murder of her husband, Gregory Smart, in 1990. (Mark Wilson/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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Smart’s longtime attorney, Mark Sisti, argued that the council simply didn’t make Smart’s case a priority and instead “brushed aside” her chance at freedom.
During a hearing before the state Supreme Court last month, Sisti said the elected council did not spend any time poring over Smart’s voluminous petition – which included many letters of support from inmates, supervisors and others – or even discuss it before rejecting her request.
William Flynn is seen staring at the gun he used to shoot and kill Gregory Smart. He was convicted of murdering Pamela Smart’s husband. (MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
The lawyer argued that Smart had a constitutional right to “demonstrate her fitness to return to society” before the governor and executive council.
Gov. Chris Sununu, who brings forth matters for the council to consider, had the option of putting the commutation request on the agenda, and did so, Laura Lombardi, senior assistant attorney general, argued, according to the AP. She said there is no requirement for the governor and council to create rules regarding the process.
Pamela Smart listens to attorneys’ question during her trial for killing her husband. The New Hampshire Supreme Court denied her attempt for a reduction of a life sentence. (Jim Mahoney/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
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Smart has earned two master’s degrees behind bars, tutored fellow inmates, been ordained as a minister and is part of an inmate liaison committee. Last month, several of Smart’s supporters, including former fellow inmates, wearing pink T-shirts with the words “Enough is Enough,” traveled to New Hampshire to hear the court discuss the case.
In her last petition, she said she was remorseful, has been rehabilitated, and apologized to Gregory Smart’s family, though relatives said she has failed to take full responsibility.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
