A federal bankruptcy judge is set to decide whether to let a civil suit against Dr. Arnold Smith proceed in Mississippi court before continuing with bankruptcy proceedings.
The civil suit against the 73-year-old oncologist was filed in state court by Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham, who authorities claim was the target of a failed murder-for-hire scheme instigated by Smith.
The Greenwood physician was committed to the Mississippi State Hospital in January after a chancery court judge found he was suffering from paranoid delusions and unfit to stand trial.
Attorneys for Smith filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in March, pointing largely to potential liabilities owed to Abraham as well as a negative monthly income after living expenses. In the filings, Smith claimed assets of $10 million — mostly in retirement ac-counts that the physician has asked be excluded from the bankruptcy case — and total liabilities of about $270,000, including $197,000 in secured claims.
Abraham’s attorneys filed a motion in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Edward Ellington to allow the lawsuit to proceed in state court before moving forward with the bankruptcy. Ellington is scheduled to hear arguments June 1 in Jackson.
The trustee in the federal bankruptcy case, Harold J. Barkley Jr., has also asked that Smith’s bankruptcy filings be tossed out, pointing out a number of deficiencies in Smith’s bankruptcy plan — including that Smith’s expenses would continue to outpace his income.
Smith’s bankruptcy plan had proposed setting aside his net take-home pay — in this case, negative $1,200 — to cover unsecured debts, including any legal liability to Abraham. Smith’s bankruptcy filings indicate that, at one point, Abraham had been seeking about $3.5 million to settle the case.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss the bankruptcy filing is scheduled for June 17 in Jackson.
Even if Ellington decides to allow the civil case against Smith to proceed in state court, the federal filings will likely delay a planned July trial date in the case. Specially appointed Judge Breland Hilburn had hoped to hold a trial starting July 20 in Lowndes County, where the case had been moved because of extensive media coverage and perceived bias against Abraham in Leflore County.
In the lawsuit against Smith, filed in July 2012, Abraham said he’s had to alter his daily actions and lost enjoyment of his normal life as a result of Smith’s alleged murder plot and the ensuing April 29, 2012, gunfire at Abraham’s Market Street law office. Abraham was at his office at the time of the shooting but was uninjured.
One alleged hitman, Keaira Byrd, was killed by agents of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office in the shooting; a second alleged hitman, Derrick Lacy, was critically wounded. An unnamed agent with the Attorney General’s Office was nicked by a ricocheting bullet. According to Abraham’s civil complaint, the Greenwood attorney was in a back room of the office, armed with three pistols, for the duration of the shooting.
Smith had faced two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of capital murder for his alleged role in the shooting. Two alleged co-conspirators — Lacy, 28, and Cordarious Robinson, 25, — are still awaiting trial. Robinson is accused of helping Smith contract for the assassination attempt.
Abraham is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as court expenses.
Smith also filed a countersuit, alleging the Greenwood attorney has secretly schemed with others to cause Smith “severe mental and emotional distress.”
Smith also indicated in federal bankruptcy filings that he may file civil suits against Abraham’s legal team, officials with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and a psychiatrist at the Mississippi State Hospital for allegedly conspiring to keep the aging oncologist imprisoned. Smith was repeatedly denied bail during the legal proceedings and has been kept at the Leflore County Jail and the Mississippi State Hospital since his April 29, 2012, arrest.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
