This story was originally produced by the Portsmouth Herald. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A judge has rejected Pamela Smart’s latest bid to overturn her conviction on charges related to the 1990 death of her husband.
Smart filed a court petition in January seeking a new trial and sentencing, arguing among other things that jurors relied on “misleading” recordings to find her guilty in 1990. She claimed “key constitutional errors” tainted the case and contributed to her life‑without‑parole sentence.
Related: Read previous coverage of Pamela Smart
The state asked the court to dismiss the petition, and Merrimack County Judge Jack Kennedy ruled in the state’s favor on Sept. 17.
Kennedy agreed with the state’s argument that Smart’s claims were barred because she could have raised them in earlier appeals that were also rejected. In his 55‑page order, he wrote that a habeas corpus petition is “not a substitute for a direct appeal.”
Read more of this story at Seacoastonline.
Read the judge's ruling.
