Murder conviction tossed; misconduct under previous DA cited

There is no official decision but it would be “a difficult case to prove,” said First Assistant District Attorney Bob White.

Smith, 49, was convicted in 2010 of second-degree murder — which carries an automatic life sentence — in the 2007 shooting of Jason Anderson, 27.

Williams, who took office in January and whose campaign platform included rooting out unjust convictions, said prosecutors under Leon Cannizzaro failed to turn over evidence favorable to Smith.

Cannizzaro told the newspaper that Williams’ office was “twisting the facts."

Criminal District Court Judge Robin Pittman ruled Thursday and scheduled a bail hearing for Smith on June 14.

Smith's family filled the courtroom, smiling at each other and waving at Smith over a video link.

The victim’s father, Mitchell Anderson, said he still believes that Smith killed his son but fears the case may be forever tainted by the alleged misconduct, the newspaper reported.

“He’s going to post bond and he’s going to be a free man. I get it. Because of Cannizzaro and what he did,” Anderson said in a telephone interview.

Williams said he will refer the matter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates lawyer misconduct in Louisiana.

“This is a direct example of how past wrongs threaten the integrity of convictions and continue to cause hurt to families and communities today,” Williams said.

Smith has been behind bars since soon after Jason Anderson was shot on Oct. 20, 2007.

The prosecution’s key witness testified that she heard gunshots, saw Anderson and Smith fighting and saw Smith shoot Anderson. She backed off her identification of Smith before the trial, but testified during trial that she was certain he was the gunman and had recanted only because she was threatened.

Jurors voted 10-2 to convict, under a law since revoked by a state constitutional amendment in 2018 and found unconstitutional last year by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Smith's attorneys at the Innocence Project New Orleans were using the split verdict and other allegations in an effort to overturn the conviction.

They said prosecutors failed to disclose $2,500 in rental payments made on behalf of the witness before trial, which they said could have helped Smith's trial lawyers attack her credibility.

Pittman said her ruling was based only on William’s concession about withheld evidence, and not on separate defense claims about DNA tests or the split verdict.

Prosecutors under Cannizzaro never filed a formal response to the motion by Innocence Project-New Orleans.

Earlier this month, Williams’ newly created civil rights division answered Smith’s claims, saying they agreed that the office failed to turn over critical information.

Cannizzaro, now the chief of the criminal division in Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office, released a statement saying, “It’s extremely unfortunate to have a district attorney who refuses to defend and support constitutional murder convictions that have been upheld on appeal by the appellate courts as well as the Louisiana Supreme Court.”

Cannizzaro also asserted that Williams failed to check Smith’s claims before the court hearing. Williams’ actions were “especially damaging to the witness who had to be relocated because her life was threatened,” he said.

Lead trial prosecutor Myles Ranier, now an assistant U.S. attorney in New Orleans, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, the newspaper reported.

White said, “Our office’s DNA testing after the trial did not show a DNA profile match for the named other suspect.”

After the judge’s ruling, Smith’s relatives crowded in front of a courtroom video camera in New Orleans to wave at him.

“You filled my courtroom. I didn’t have room for the people on the docket,” Pittman said to laughter from relatives. “So, is your mom here?”

Smith said his mother, Evelyn, died while he was in prison.