A judge has ruled Dr. Arnold Smith incompetent to stand trial and ordered the 71-year old oncologist returned to the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield.
In issuing the ruling today, specially appointed Circuit Court Judge Breland Hilburn was following the recommendations of psychiatrists at Whitfield who determined that Smith lacks the ability to understand the seriousness of the charges against him and to aid in his own defense.
Smith has been undergoing evaluation at Whitfield since June 4, after a psychologist hired by the defense initially found him not competent to stand trial.
Smith is charged with two counts of conspiring to kill prominent Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham. Smith was arrested on April 29, 2012, the day after gunfire at Abraham’s Market Street law office left one alleged hitman, Keaira Byrd, dead and another, Derrick Lacy, critically wounded by agents of the state Attorney General’s Office. Abraham was uninjured.
Once returned to Whitfield, Smith will continue to be evaluated by doctors to determine if the possibility exists for him to regain competency and stand trial.
See the full story in Wednesday’s Commonwealth.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
