Attorneys for Dr. Arnold Smith are demanding that the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office disclose more details about the fatal April 2012 shooting at Lee Abraham’s Market Street law office.
Although the criminal trial against Smith has been postponed indefinitely, lawyers for the 71-year-old Greenwood oncologist have filed a motion demanding that the state name the agent who fired the fatal shot into Keaira Byrd’s head. The defense is also requesting the state turn over weapons used in the shootout for testing.
Smith was arrested and charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder after an April 28, 2012, shooting at Abraham’s office, which left Byrd dead and another man, Derrick Lacy, critically wounded. Byrd and Lacy were allegedly hitmen hired by Smith to kill Abraham, who was unhurt.
Three investigators from the state Attorney General’s Office — Larry Ware, Jerry Spell and Tony Green — were at Abraham’s office when Byrd and Lacy arrived.
According to authorities, Byrd had arranged the meeting with Abraham, purportedly in order to sell the attorney a gun Byrd claimed would implicate Smith in a murder-for-hire scheme to kill Abraham. Abraham contacted Attorney General Jim Hood, a longtime political ally and hunting buddy of Abraham’s, to request assistance.
When Byrd and Lacy arrived, two investigators were waiting inside Abraham’s office while a third was outside. Byrd was wearing a ski mask and carrying a MAC-11 machine pistol, while Lacy was unarmed, investigators said.
It is still unclear who fired first — or if Byrd fired any shots — but Byrd was struck six times while Lacy was wounded in the back and leg.
The Attorney General’s Office has yet to disclose any additional details about the shooting.
In their motion, filed Tuesday, Smith’s attorneys — William Bell of Ridgeland and Hugo Rodriguez of Miami, Fla. — argue the state is required to turn over the identity of the agent who killed Byrd and provide the weapons used so forensic experts hired by the defense can conduct their own tests.
Smith’s attorneys write that “the State is required to disclose the identity of the killer and is required to make available to the defense for testing the weapon used in the killing, all weapons from the scene, and all spent casings, bullets and bullet fragments from the scene.”
The criminal case against Smith has been on hold indefinitely since specially appointed Circuit Court Judge Breland Hilburn ruled in December that Smith was unfit to stand trial.
Smith is being held at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, where he will continue to undergo evaluation for at least seven more months. Then another hearing will be held to re-examine his competency.
In the motion, Smith’s lawyers argue that, even though Smith has been declared incompetent, his attorneys have an obligation to continue preparing a defense for a possible trial.
No hearing has yet been scheduled on the motion, but a separate hearing in the civil suit filed by Abraham against Smith has been scheduled for next Wednesday at 11 a.m.
In the suit, Abraham said he’s had to alter his daily actions and lost enjoyment of his normal life as a result of the alleged plot.
He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as court expenses.
